Chapter 1 

The cry of a loud, shrill horn filled the room. The noise bouncing off the walls caused the already normally painful sound to become a horrific cacophony. Three girls let out soft groans as they opened their eyes and looked around. However, one by one their eyes went wide as they realized they couldn't move.

"What the hell," groaned one as she started to wiggle only to find she was tied to a chair, "Where the fuck are we?" 

"Feels like I got hit by a truck," mumbled another as she tried to wiggle free of the rope, "What even happened? The last thing I remember I was at the," she started, only to trail off. "Someone drugged our coffee!"

"I knew it," grunted Sasha as she tried to rock her chair. "I told you, Amelia, I said we shouldn't be wandering around in public! But no, Miss I-Need-to-Look-Aesthetic-on-Photogram wouldn't listen!" 

"Do you think it's related?" asked Amelia as she stopped struggling. Her breathing became a quick, panicked pant as her eyes darted around the room. 

"Of course it is! Use your brain, Amelia!" shouted Sasha as she continued to thrash, Amelia's reduction in movement only making her fight against her bonds harder. For the next several minutes Sasha continued to thrash and twist her body, trying to find any weakness in the rope she was trapped within. 

"What do we do?!" cried Amelia, her whole body starting to shake and shudder. 

"Struggle!" Sasha growled in response, "Don't give up on me now, struggle! There must be a way to loosen these ropes or get an arm out or something!" Her voice continued to rise, trying her best to break Amelia out of her shocked state. 

It was no use. Amelia's eyes glazed over slightly as she sat still, staring at the wall. "Where are we?" she only mumbled, her body softly trembling. 

"It doesn't matter! We need to get out! We need to fight!" Sasha thrashed in her seat. "Struggle! Don't be a dumb bitch! Struggle!" She continued to scream, her voice cracking slightly as she did. "Don't let these assholes win!" 

"Assholes?" spoke another voice from the back of the room, "Didn't your mother teach you to watch your mouth?" 

A woman walked into view, making her way to the front of the chair. "No, of course, she didn't. If you knew what was good for you, it wouldn't have come to this." 

"Who are you?" Sasha demanded as she continued to struggle with her ropes. 

"You act like you're so clever," the woman teased as she looked down at her clipboard, "I thought you would have known!" 

"Um, where are we?" Amelia asked, her eyes still partially glazed. 

The woman looked up at her and smiled. "I'm glad you asked! You're currently in a secure facility. I like to call it the Hit Factory, but I'm sure it has other names." 

"I don't know," replied Amelia, obviously falling into her shock even deeper. 

"You don't need to know," replied the woman, "But I know all about you three. You've made quite a reputation for yourselves."

"You know nothing," grumbled Sasha, still trying to act tough. However, the other woman was unphased. 

"Amelia Phillips, Apartment #211 4232 Westmoor Street. Has previously worked on exposés focused on motor corporations, now an investigator for the Daily Recorder." 

The woman turned her attention to Sasha. "Sasha Anderson, 45 Delphi Avenue. Former editor of Sporting Life magazine, now head of the investigation desk at the Daily Recorder."
"That's public information," started Sasha, but the woman totally ignored her and turned to the third girl at the end of the line. "And Lisa Bahur, the editor of the Daily Recorder," she started, only for the third girl to shake her head gently. 

"I'm not," she said gently. While she was clearly shy, she wasn't as broken as Amelia was. In fact, compared to everyone else in the room, she stuck out like a sore thumb. While Amelia, Sasha, and the mysterious women were clad in suits, this third girl was wearing a bright pink dress and had luminous pink hair. 

"She isn't Lisa," continued Sasha as the woman pulled a photograph out of her file and held it up near the girl's head. After looking between the two for a few seconds she let out a loud sigh. 

"Yeah, she isn't," muttered the woman. "Friend of yours?" 

"No," said Sasha firmly. "We don't know her." 

"Saw her," started Amelia, her voice becoming less distant, "In the coffee shop."

"I see," sighed the woman. "I guess they drugged the wrong cup. Oh well, no bother." She put the clipboard down on a small desk at the side of the room. "I can work with this."

"You're not going to let her go?" asked Amelia. 

"Of course not, she's seen too much," the woman chuckled as she turned to the third girl. "What's your name sweetie?" 

"Mimosa," mumbled the third girl. "What is going on? Please, I'm really confused." 

"Cute name," smiled the woman as she focused her attention on Mimosa. "Well, these two lovely ladies have gotten you into a little bit of trouble. See," she started as she leaned forward. "These ladies can't leave other people's business alone. They stick their nose where it doesn't belong and cause trouble for the sake of it." 

"Because you're scum!" barked Sasha, only for the woman to roll her eyes, not even bothering to turn. 

"So, they've decided to get in the way of progress. They decided to steal some files from a respectable company with the aim of leaking them, just because they disagree with our decision to progress society and improve it." 

"I knew you were Zira Corp," huffed Sasha as she started to wiggle again. "Ignore her, her whole company is corrupt as hell!" 

The woman sighed and walked back to the desk where her clipboard rested.

"Yeah!" added Amelia, slowly coming out of her funk. "They're liars!" Just as she opened her mouth to continue speaking, the woman returned to them both with a roll of duct tape. She pulled a strip off of the role and pushed it across Sasha's mouth.

Sasha let out a series of muffled moans as she continued to struggle. Despite her frenzied efforts, the rope was too strong and the tape was making it impossible to make out her words. "She talks too much," sighed the woman. "You should thank me anyway." 

"Why?" asked Amelia, suddenly looking scared. 

The woman smirked and put a finger under Amelia's chin, lifting her head so that Amelia's eyes looked directly into the woman's eyes. "The boss suggested just killing you," she spoke softly with a smile as Amelia's eyes went wide, "But, I talked her out of it. I think you can make the company some profit," she added before patronizingly slapping Amelia's cheek. 

"I," started Mimosa, only for the woman to shoot a glance in her direction, causing her to instantly stop herself. As the woman went back to the deks, Sasha continued to wiggle in her ropes. It was becoming more obvious by the second that she wouldn't be able to free herself from them. 

The woman picked up her clipboard and produced a smaller folder from within it. She walked back in front of the chairs. "Now," she began, "If you're all ready to stop humiliating yourselves, we can start from the beginning and begin a long and successful relationship." 

Sasha let out another load of muffled shouts, obviously trying to be heard through the tape. However, it was pointless, especially as the other two girls didn't know how to respond to the whole situation. They simply sat in silence, their eyes darting between Sasha and the woman. 

"From this day forward, I'll be your manager, Iris Lin. You can all call me Manager, Miss, or Madam," she said firmly as she looked through the folder. 

"Manager? We don't need a manager," interjected Amelia, but Iris ignored her. She pulled a picture out of the folder and turned it to face the girls. The picture showed another group of girls, all in matching dresses, waving at the camera with big smiles on their faces. 

"Now, these girls are," started Iris. 

"Monimori Minniz," Mimosa answered quietly. Iris turned and smiled at the girl as Mimosa quickly realized she had said it out loud. 

"Oh? You're familiar?" asked Iris, a faint smirk forming on her face.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Mimosa, "They're an idol band. I like some of their songs."

"Don't be sorry," Iris said softly, "But tell me Mimosa, do you know how much Monimori Minniz makes for their label every year?" 

"No?" replied Mimosa as she shook her head, clearly unable to work out why Iris was talking about this. 

"Ninety million dollars a year," explained Iris. "That's just from music sales. It doesn't even include merch and other venues. See," she continued as she turned to focus on Sasha and Amelia, "Monimori Minniz are everywhere. Concerts, albums, their own morning TV show, performing in dramas and movies, and even licensed video games. They are an absolute gold mine, a license to print money." 

"So, uh, where do we come into this?" Amelia interrupted, "What do we have to do with this band?" 

"Glad you asked!" chuckled Iris. "See, I've long said that Zira Corp should go into the idol industry. It is a big market already, but at the same time it is only just taking off in America. So, if we can get in on the ground floor, we can set the cultural zeitgeist." 

Amelia looked at Iris with confusion in her eyes. Sasha started to struggle again, not bothering to try and shout through the tape. All she wanted to do was wiggle free of the ropes. 

"How," started Mimosa before stopping and reconsidering her words, "How does that link to us?" 

"Again, glad you asked," Iris nodded. "See, the CEO doesn't believe in my plan. Thinks hiring the musicians would be too expensive, especially after the film label flopped. But, when I explained that I could make the band and cleanly get rid of three of our biggest threats, well, how could she say no?"

"Are you implying that we'll be idols for your company? Wow! Please, I've never heard anything so dumb," cackled Amelia, slowly regaining her composure. 

"You're right," answered Iris plainly, "I misspoke. Your bodies will. Minds, well, we're going to be replacing those." 

"Replacing?" gasped Mimosa. 

"Replacing our minds? You're nuts!" shouted Amelia, "Let us go!" 

"It is far, far too late for that," said Iris, her tone becoming mocking. "You already know too much and we went through a lot of effort to catch you." 

"I can keep quiet," said Mimosa. Iris instantly spun on her heel and walked up to Mimosa before rubbing the girl's cheek. 

"Oh no," grinned Iris, "You're so perfect. You're just what I need. In fact, I'm sure you're going to love your new idol life." 

"I don't want to be an idol," replied Mimosa, looking into Iris' eyes. "I really don't want to." 

"But you're perfect for it. You have the look and the knowledge to teach these two fools," she said, pointing her finger accusingly at Amelia and Sasha, "the way of the idol!" 

"But," started Mimosa, only for Iris to put her finger over the girl's lips. 

"Shhh, it's going to be fun! You'll thank me when you're on TV," she softly reassured as she walked behind the chairs once more and started to fiddle with something.

"You're not going to get away with this!" shouted Amelia. "When we don't turn up to work people will come knocking, and I know Sasha has a deadman's switch!" 

"So?" chuckled Iris from the back of the room, "You think that will matter at all?" 

"Yes! You can't get rid of everyone!" shouted Amelia, trying and failing to feign confidence. 

"You're forgetting something," replied Iris as she brought a stand and a rolled-up projection screen to the front of the room. "We'll still have your body, and your idol personas will be more than happy to practice their acting by submitting two beautifully formatted resignation letters. And," added Iris as she turned and stared daggers into Sasha, "Very happy to disable any document drops the old you set up." 

Something about Iris' tone sent chills down the girls' spines. Instantly all three started to struggle with the ropes, all realizing that this wasn't some idle threat and that Iris really meant every word of what she was saying. However, Iris didn't even turn around. She instead focused on building the screen, almost like she was about to give the girls a presentation. 

"You really don't get it, do you?" she asked as she clicked some supports into place, "I've made sure those bonds are practically inescapable. While you were out, I made sure that you had nothing on you that could break the bonds. My job is on the line here. if I don't get results, I'm getting fired." 

"You're mad!" screamed Amelia as she thrashed wildly. 

"Genius requires a spark of madness," retorted Amelia as she continued to build something behind the girls. They continued to thrash and struggle, but the ropes still refused to budge even an inch. 

After several moments of building and furious struggling, the lights in the room clicked off. "Now," said Iris as a light focused on the screen in front of the girls, "I just need you to watch this film and soon everything will make sense to you." 

"No!" cried Amelia as Sasha let out a series of muffled shouts. However, before they could do anything else, Iris wrapped her arm around Mimosa's shoulder and clicked a button. Instantly the screen came to life, showing a massive crowd of people, all waving bright pink glow sticks. 

At first, Mimosa and the other girls were confused. It was as if Iris had accidentally played a concert video she had recorded. However, as the seconds passed, the movement of the sticks fell into a rhythm, turning the crowd into one undulating sea of light. It seemed to move and twist as if it could have been alive. 

Mimosa turned away from the screen. However, the second the screen left her vision, Iris grabbed her chin and turned her head back to face the screen. "No, you don't. We need you," whispered Iris as she gently squeezed Mimosa’s cheeks firmer.  Mimosa tried to wiggle her head free but to no use. Iris' grip was too firm. 

As she tried to work out how to get out of the grip, she instead found herself getting pulled into the waves of pink light. It was so strange how it no longer looked like a crowd, but more like a beautiful pink lake full of ripples and waves which utterly fascinated her mind. It was so oddly soothing, and the more she watched the more she found herself getting pulled into it. The whole room seemed to fall away as the pink light pulled her into the center. In the back of her mind, she could hear some noise but she couldn't work out what it was, and the more she tried to think about it, the more she found herself getting pulled into the pattern of moving pink glow sticks. 

"Fight her! Mimosa! Wake up! Wake up!" screamed Amelia, her voice cracking from the continued effort. "Wake up! Wake up! Ignore her! Bite her! Bite her fucking fingers off!" she continued as she thrashed around in the chair. Sasha was doing the same, her muffled groans adding to the cacophony. But Mimosa wasn't reacting. Her glazed eyes stared at the screen and a small amount of drool was trickling down her chin. 

The pink waves continued to dance as Mimosa felt her mind flow away from her. She couldn't believe how beautiful it was. It was like seeing some fundamental force of the universe being revealed to her for the first time. She felt like the pink was sucking her in, the pink lights dancing around and through her brain. She felt like she was floating; her entire body was tingling. 

"It's too late for her," snickered Iris as she let go of Mimosa's cheeks. Instantly, Mimosa's eyes rolled up into her head as her head slumped forward. It was clear she had totally given into the screen. 

"You monster! When I get out of here I'm going to make you regret ever being born!" screeched Amelia, her whole body positively radiating pure rage. 

"You're not getting out," replied Iris firmly. "Simply look at the screen and you can join Mimosa in bliss." 

"I'll never," started Amelia. However, before she could finish her sentence, Iris grabbed her hair and violently twisted it, making her yelp in pain. Iris put one hand around Amelia's neck and used the other to forcibly turn the girl's head. 

"You lost the right to your own destiny when you decided to leak files without caring who you hurt," growled Iris, almost like she had been maintaining a professional sheen for Mimosa's sake. Amelia tried to close her eyes, but the second she did Iris used her thumb to force the lid up.

"No, no," screamed Amelia, trying to fight. However, Iris' tight grip on her throat and eyelid meant that even the slightest twitch hurt.  She tried to struggle anyway, hoping to push through the pain, but this didn't stop Iris, who dug her nails into the flesh around Amelia's eye, causing her to let out a scream. As her body throbbed with pain, her eyes gravitated to the sea of pink on screen. Instantly, she felt her head starting to spin and her thoughts start to fade. It was like the daze as she came up from her drugged coffee, but much more intense. Her whole body felt engulfed in dazzling pink light. She could feel the pain in her face fading as her muscles relaxed. However, she knew Iris had not stopped her assault. The nails were still pressed into her flesh, but her brain simply didn’t receive the signal anymore. It was too preoccupied with the pretty pink light. 

"I," started Amelia. She wanted to scream out, to beg for help or mercy, but she just couldn't. All of her movements were so lethargic, so heavy. Even getting her lips to part felt like running a marathon. She was so heavy and so very tired. There was only one thing she could do without effort: stare at the sea of pink lights moving and twisting. And, with that realization, Amelia felt something inside her. It was like a switch flipped. All of her hope, all of her desire to fight just vanished and she felt herself tumbling downward like she was falling into the pink lights. 

"Now," Iris breathed out as Amelia slumped forward, her eyes as glazed as Mimosa's, "Only you left darling." She walked toward Sasha with a predatory glint in her eye. 

Sasha struggled in her bonds but even her struggling, once so full of fire, was now slower and weaker. She had expended so much energy trying to break free that she had totally tired herself out. That, and seeing Amelia get manhandled had further drained her spirit, leaving her a mere shadow of her earlier self. She let out a few more shouts from beneath the tape, but they were so much weaker than before, sounding like mere whimpers and grumbles. 

"It is too late for you," Iris stated. "Now we can do this easily, or we can do this the hard way. Please remember, I'm already upset with you, so I'm more than happy to do this the hard way." 

Sasha instantly closed her eyes, scrunching them as tightly shut as she could, clearly desperate to work out how to escape this horrible situation. However, before she could think of anything, Iris reached around and punched Sasha firmly in the stomach. 

Reactively Sasha let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her. This caused her eyes to spring open, forcing her to look into the moving crowd of lights. Instantly, Iris grabbed Sasha's eyes, holding them open, making her take in the light as it twisted and moved. No matter what Sasha tried, she simply couldn't pull her eyes away from the screen. She was just too exhausted and the light was too pretty, so she soon found herself falling into it, her mind switching off and the pain in her stomach becoming nothing more than a faint memory. 

Iris smiled to herself and spent a few minutes watching the girls stare blankly at the footage, basking in her own sense of accomplishment. Once she had enjoyed the moment, Iris cleared her throat and started to speak once more. "This is called Wotagei. While others see it as mere frivolity, I think it is the perfect demonstration of the joys of the idol lifestyle. The hypnotic lights, the worship. It feels so good. It makes it all worth it," Iris spoke clearly as she looked over the slumped girls. 

The girls all let out soft moans and gurgles, their eyes crossing and rolling around in their heads. Iris nodded to herself and went over to the projector and fiddled with the buttons on it for a few minutes. As she did, another video appeared atop the sea of pink light. It showed the girls from Monimori Minniz dancing in various videos and at various concerts. Words flashed across the images quickly as a loud droning noise filled the room, causing the three bound girls to shudder. 

"See," began Iris as she moved back to the screen, "You girls want this! You want to be idols. You know you do. You can feel the urge growing as you listen to me and watch the girls work. Being an idol means you're cute. It means you're popular. It means you're talented and skilled," she explained to the mesmerized girls. 

The girls continued to stare at the screen, the images reflecting in their glazed eyes. All three of them drooled as they sat mindlessly absorbing Iris' words. 

"In fact, I want you to think that for me. ‘An idol me, an idol I want to be!’ Say that for me, let it fill your mouths and minds," Iris commanded with a smirk. 

Instantly, the girls started to mumble the line. "An idol me, an idol I want to be," the girls sleepily chanted, Sasha's voice still muffled by the tape across her mouth. 

"Yes, that's it!" cheered Iris. "Let it happen. Let yourself accept it. You're idols!" She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked it for just a second. "Right, I'll leave you girls to absorb some classic Monimori Minniz, and then we'll finish our conversation," she grinned as she dashed out of the room. 

"An idol me, an idol I want to be," repeated the girls mindlessly, time losing all meaning as the footage and the lights looped over and over and over. 

Chapter 2

Eventually, the girls blinked their eyes and let out a groan. "What is going on? My head" moaned Amelia. 

"What did she," started Sasha, only to gasp as she realized her mouth was no longer taped up. However, this joy was short-lived as all three girls realized there was a strange weight on their heads. 

"Good morning ladies!" sang Iris as she walked back into the room. "Welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives!" 

"Ha!" shouted Sasha. "Whatever you did, didn't work! I still know who I am and I have no desire to do anything you say! In fact, the only desire I have is to kick your ass!" However, Iris didn't seem phased by it. In fact, all she did was let out a soft giggle. 

"An idol me," she said softly. 

"An idol I want to be!" responded all three girls automatically, their lips moving before they had a chance to think. A look of shame quickly flashed across all their faces. 

"What did we," started Amelia, only for Iris to cut her off again.

"An idol me!" 

"An idol I want to be!" the girls again responded, their cheeks flushing bright red as they did. 

"Excellent!" chuckled Iris as she smirked down at the girls. "Don't worry, we're not done yet. Earlier was just the priming. Softening you up. Getting you ready for the finale." 

"Finale?" stuttered Mimosa. 

"Oh, right," Iris said as she walked over to Mimosa and held her phone up to the girl. The front camera was on, allowing Mimosa and the other two to see that they had helmets on their heads and these helmets were attached to long wires. 

"What is this?" Mimosa whined. 

"What are you planning on doing to us?!" demanded Amelia. Iris laughed and shook her head toward Amelia, a smug grin forming on her face. It was clear that Iris knew she was in control and was relishing every moment of it. 

"Oh really? Little Miss investigator didn't know about this? You've been snooping for how long and never dug up dirt on this little project?" She grinned. "All that boasting, all those awards, and what for what? A little bit of unpaid tax?" 

"What are these things?!" screamed Amelia, quickly losing her cool. 

"These, are cranial stimulators." Smiled Iris. "They use low-end electrical current to help educate the brain. They're the next frontier of education. Direct, practice-free learning." 

"That will never work," huffed Sasha.

"We'll see." Iris smirked as she walked past Mimosa and rubbed her cheek, "But, you'll have to wait your turn. The band leader goes first, as is tradition." 

Mimosa blinked, confused. "Leader?" 

"You're the idol expert! And let's be fair," said Iris as she rubbed Mimosa's cheek once more, "You're the cutest." 

"But, I'm no," mumbled Mimosa, falling over her words a little as she tried to work out what to say to get herself out of this situation. However, as she continued to stumble over her words, Iris picked up a control panel and flipped a switch. Instantly, Mimosa felt a tingling in her head, almost like her whole body had a static charge. Her thoughts instantly ground to a halt as her mouth dropped open. "I," she slurred.

"Now, it's time to learn. Please watch the screen," started Iris as the screen started to flash through random images and words. 

To Sasha and Amelia, it looked like an overloading amount of unconnected things, but Mimosa was experiencing it very differently. She could feel the images pushing into her mind as her brain tingled. It was like every neuron was activating at the same time like her physical brain was being reshaped. 

As the images flashed, Iris started to talk. "You are Mimi. You are the band leader. You are the key idol. The star. The centerpiece. The best. You keep the others in line because they are under you. They are second to you. They exist to brighten your star. You're the ones the fans come to see, the one everyone loves. The face on all the merch, the one who gets the biggest acting roles." 

As Iris continued to talk, Mimosa felt herself changing. Everything Iris said made so much sense and memories that were not hers were flashing through her head. She could suddenly remember lyrics to songs she had never heard before. Whole years of training she had never undertaken were quickly being stored in her mind, their memory as fresh as though she had done it yesterday. However, as she continued to watch, Mimosa felt something slipping away from her. Like she had forgotten something important, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Those thoughts felt foreign like she had just woken up from a dream that was slowly fading into a forgotten haze. 

Suddenly the tingling stopped and Mimosa looked around. "I zoned out," she mumbled. 

"Mimi!" called Iris. Instantly Mimosa's eyes rolled up into her head as she felt her brain twist again. 

"Yes, manager!" replied Mimi, "How may I help you, manager?!"

"Excellent!" laughed Iris as she quickly untied the girl and motioned to the space in front of the screen. "Mimi, show the girls your signature pose!" 

"Yes, boss!" shouted Mimi like a soldier as she bounced across to the space, her whole body radiating excited energy. Once she reached the area, she leaned forward and made a heart shape with her hands before placing the heart shape over her left eye. "Mimi Magic!" she cheered as Sasha and Amelia looked on with confused terror. 

"What did you do to her?!" demanded Sasha. 

"Nothing," smirked Iris, "Mimi’s always been like this, haven't you Mimi?" 

"Yes, manager!" answered Mimi as she hopped from foot to foot. "Why are you two so angry? Don't be rude to the manager! And get into costume! We don't wear black!" she ordered as she pointed to the girls' work attire. 

"Mimosa! Fight it! She did something to you!" Amelia pleaded. However, Mimi just looked at the girl in confusion. 

"What's gotten into her?" asked Mimi as she looked at Iris. 

"She missed her training!" Iris answered with a grin as she put her arm around Mimi. "Could you give me a hand?" 

Mimi made a little hand heart. "Of course manager, anything for you!" 
"Good, then, please go and read this to Lulu," nodded Iris as she passed Mimi a script. Mimi took the script and skipped over to Amelia as Iris walked over to Sasha. 

As she did, both Sasha and Amelia felt a tingling in their brain. The screen started to flash brightly, showing hundreds of images of idols and other things. Instantly, they felt their thoughts weaken as Mimi and Iris started to speak. 

"You are Lulu," said Mimi to Amelia. However much Amelia wanted to argue, she just couldn't. The name Amelia instantly became strange, turning from a name into a jumble of letters that made no sense when put together. Suddenly, she could remember being called Lulu as if everyone had been calling her that for as long as she could remember. She could suddenly remember so many new things that felt so real while her old memories felt so fake. 

"You are Nana," Iris spoke as she pulled Sasha's hair, "You are the third, but the cutest. So cute. Always wearing the most over-the-top outfits, always the butt of the joke," continued Iris as Sasha's eyes crossed. Instantly, she remembered being bullied by Lulu and Mimi and she realized how good it made her feel. She loved it when the girls bullied her, it made people laugh, and making the audience happy was all that Nana cared about. 

After several minutes of lecturing, Iris motioned to Mimi before turning off the machine and untying the two girls. "Okay," Iris began with a clap. "Shall we see if this worked?" 

"Yes, manager!" agreed Mimi. 

"Lulu!" shouted Iris, and instantly Amelia's eyes went wide. The girl instantly jumped from her chair and saluted. 

"Yes, manager? What do you need from me?!" Lulu shouted back. 

"Excellent," giggled Iris, "Now, Nana!" With that, Sasha's eyes instantly opened wide as she jumped up from her chair. 

"Here I come!" She shouted as she jumped out of the chair. However, as she did, she tripped, landing flat on her face before quickly springing back up to her feet. Nana and Mimi giggled at the sight as Nana's cheeks flushed, obviously proud that she got a laugh. "What do you need, boss?" 

"Well," Iris replied, "We have some paperwork to fill in and we need to get you out of those ugly outfits," she said as she quickly pointed to Nana and Lulu's costumes.

"Nana always makes bad fashion choices," sighed Mimi. 

"She's so clumsy!" agreed Lulu before letting out a high-pitched giggle. 

"She is," Iris added. "But follow me, we need to get you all changed." She led the girls out of the room and towards another space within the massive building. 

Chapter 3

A week later, Mimi turned up at the glass doors of the Daily Recorder. She caught a glimpse of herself in the glass and smiled, quickly making a little heart shape with her hands. Mimi couldn't help but realize she looked amazing in her bright pink jumpsuit covered with patches of cartoon bunnies, as well as her pink bandanna. "Mimi magic!" she cheered to herself before walking into the building and going up to the receptionist. 

"Can I help you, miss?" asked the receptionist, looking at Mimi's outfit with confusion. 

"Yeah! Sparkle!" giggled Mimi as she quickly posed before dropping two envelopes on the desk. "These are the letters Amelia Phillips and Sasha Anderson asked me to deliver here. Letters of resignation for their boss!" 

"I see," replied the receptionist, quietly taken aback. "I'll see those get to them as soon as possible. Do you need to see these people?" 

"Nope!" answered Mimi as she turned and started to leave, "They're gone now!" With that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the reception area. Once she was outside, Mimi opened her phone and sent a text before opening up a video and smiling to herself.

The video showed Mimi, Lulu, and Nana in cute matching orange and yellow dresses with fake dungaree straps on them. They all waved at the camera and let out a loud cheer.

"I'm Mimi!" 

"I'm Lulu!" 

"And I'm Nana!" said the girls in order.

"And we're Petalz Generation!" They shouted in unison as they all made a heart shape with their hand and held it over their left eye. 

"We're so happy that you all liked our new single, Love Heart Love Love," continued Mimi, "But it couldn't have happened without our amazing staff at Zira Corp! Together we're going to show the world the power of cuteness and love!" 

"Yeah!" giggled Nana, "And we're coming to your city on tour soon!" 

"So, get your tickets and check out the new Petalz Generation debut tour t-shirt at the link below!" Nodded Mimi. 

"Petalz power!" cheered the girls in unison as they made the heart motion again before the video faded to black. Mimi giggled to herself and put her phone into her pocket before jumping into a car that had just pulled up.

"Did you do it?" asked Iris as Mimi buckled up.

"Sparkle yes!" replied Mimi. 

"Good," giggled Iris as the car pulled into traffic. "Because I think your upcoming tour just got a lot more interesting."