"You make it sound like she's keeping them as prisoners, not employees." you say.
*Of course not, look at all this glitter! Do you think a cage would be that gilded?*
The Adult, probably.
She wasn't very specific about what you can do, but referenced control and manipulation a lot. She said that you were taking control of any Magical Girls you met so you could turn them into monsters.
Just enough truth to cristallise the lie around, yes, we do have a strong theme of control and technically manipulation, and we absolutely are a very strong abnormality The Adult wouldn't want to fight, but we aren't *taking control* of the girls (though I'm not sure the Adult could recognize healthy relationships if they punched her in the face) and the transformations are involuntary… plus the fact that just the mill makes the Adult a huge hypocrite on that one.
The other three were all working on special projects that I never heard about. We barely interacted, so I can't tell you anything more about them. Sorry."
Information control, limit the way they can interact with each others and the parts of the projects they can see and you can shape their expectations in any direction you want.
Leonie is right that the one in charge of the outside reach is probably a weak link here.
That, and so much dialogue from a bunch of different characters is pretty much my exact weak spot for writing.
*Looks at the intended Madoka/Hitomi/Madoparents discussion I want to vote for on the earliest possible occasion*
Well, practice makes perfect?
As for what to do, I want to discuss Leonie, but we still have the Adult to take care of…. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.
[X] Argalia and Leonie's experience with the Adult, ask them about what her goal could be, and what they could've gleaned from interacting with her.