Preparing a Rescue Mission

Noelle sat opposite Abi and Sophie, who were huddled up together in the lounge area. She was still getting to know the other glitches.

"You two are just the cutest couple imaginable" the witch cooed "Was it love at first sight? How did you get together? Actually, you know what? I'd love to hear about your first kiss!"

"Oh, it was super romantic. You tell her Soph, you initiated it!!" Abi nudged her partner.

"I get embarrassed though. You tell her" Tania, trying to pass herself off as Abi's wife and with no clue how any of this happened, answered.

"Don't be silly, I love to hear you retell it. It gives me goosebumps!" Abi stroked Sophie's arm.

"Okay then, it was when we were in America..." Sophie began uncertainly.

"Obviously!" Abi interrupted "Can you be a bit more specific? Like, we were up in the helicopter? Over the Grand Canyon?"

"Oh yeah" Sophie nodded, looking a little relieved "So, I'd always wanted to visit the Grand Canyon.."

"Okay, you can do it" Abi told Noelle.

The witch then made a gesture with her hands and pointed at "Sophie" who shrunk down to about three inches in height.

"Wait, what are you doing!" the miniaturised glitch panicked.

"I've never even been to the Grand Canyon, Tania!" Abi hissed "Sorry Noelle, I needed to be completely sure it wasn't her before I let you do that"

"No, you've got it all wrong! I am Sophie! Rebecca just messed with my memories!" Tania squeaked.

"And sleep..."

Noelle waved her hand over Tania again, who closed her eyes and fell into a foetal position on the chair.

"When she wakes up, she won't be able to tell anyone who she really is. I'm sure it will be infuriating for her!" Noelle smiled with satisfaction as Cassie and Chantelle emerged from around the corner and the former scooped tiny Tania up and placed her into her purse.

"I feel like I should be going with you guys to get my Sophie back" Abi offered.

"No chance" Noelle shook her head "You are in the high susceptibility group. We need to keep you out of the firing line"

"We'll bring her home for you, I promise" Cassie assured hr friend and fellow glitch.

"I've got something to help you with that" Noelle reached into her bag and pulled out two vials of clear liquid "Invisibility potions. Tania had a ton of these in that chest of hers"

"Oh, now they are going to come in handy!" Chantelle grinned as she eagerly grabbed hers "We never had these in the Bureau!"

"Chantelle, you are a mid-range susceptible, a few drops should vanish you for an hour or so. Cassie, you will need to drink quite a bit more to see any lasting effect"

"I guess there are disadvantages to being a low range susceptible too" Cassie figured.

"Wait, I'm high range, right?" Abi asked "So if I drank the same amount that Cassie needs for an hour?"

"We wouldn't be seeing you for days" Noelle confirmed.

"It's going to be so important for my tactical planning that I know exactly who is high, low and medium susceptibility" Chantelle told Noelle.

"It's pretty simple" the witch answered "The lows are me and everyone in my magic class"

"That's me, Mel, Laura, Leiliani and April" Cassie added.

"The highs are Abi here, Lexie, Maggie, Chelsea, Tina and, from what I have seen on that website, the real Sophie is the highest of the lot" Noelle continued.

"Poor Soph" Abi shook her head.

"Everyone else is mid range, like 90% of the population. It's unusual to have so many highs and lows in one group" the witch concluded.

"There is nothing usual about the glitches" Chantelle replied "But, for tactical purposes, it is probably helpful to have that diversity"

"I had a bit of a poke around that magical war chest Rebecca left for Tania" Noelle went on "I hate to say it, but she is pretty powerful. I don't want to say she is more powerful than me, but she is more advanced for sure. I haven't been able to figure out how to distil my magic into potions yet, and I can't do remote spellcasting like she can, though that does take a lot of her magical charge"

"Just having you here is amazing, and we are so grateful for everything you are doing" Cassie told the witch "Where is Tania in the magical susceptibility range?"

"Middle of the middle" Noelle answered "Meaning the spells I put on her should hold for a decent amount of time, a couple of weeks maybe, but she will be able to break through them eventually"

"That should be plenty of time for us to prepare" Chantelle figured "Okay Cass, looks like we are good to go. Sit tight Abi, we are bringing Sophie home!"