Cheers for the start
There was no way in L Corp my mischief wouldn't get me in trouble. The power outage my actions caused could have ended in tragedy. If, at the very least, I had gotten over my affliction, maybe it could be justified, but I had no such luck.
So, there I was. My arms crossed behind my back in that room filled with cameras, silently waiting for the explo- er, I mean, for Angela to scold me. However, she simply stared at me. It was as if she knew silence hurt me way more than any reprimand could. The way her closed eyes smirked at me… it was as she prohibited me from speaking up, forcing me to suffer that silence.
In the little time I had known Yesod, I once heard him express envy towards Angela. Unlike the other Sephirah, she was truly emotionless. What a load of baloney! Emotionless, my ass! That AI… was so emotional it hurt. She clearly violated the AI Ethics Amendment made by The Head. Everyone thought she felt no emotions because she chose carefully the moments when to express herself.
And, boy, did she have things to express. Most of them, terrible. After having my mind utterly broken by T-06-27, I became more sensitive to some things. It was subtle, but the Sephirah and Angela had… a greater depth to them. It makes no sense and I know I am going insane, but I would even dare to say they used to be something else before they were… well, whoever they were at the present.
I did my best to ignore the explosions bombarding my ears and the screams making my heart drum faster. I studied the cyan-haired lady even daringly. She was torturing me with her silence, so it was only fair that I tried seeing through her, for a change.
I focused so much I even mumbled a question, breaking the ice.
"How many times have we been here before?"
She looked unfazed, almost as if we had been in that exact same situation a hundred times already. Angela showed me her shocked beautiful golden eyes. Oh? Maybe that was the first time I asked her that?
"You've probably heard this before, but… I'm sorry, miss Angela. I was desperate to… forget that day. You may find relief knowing I failed miserably."
"Your suffering brings me no joy."
"What brings you joy, then?"
The door slid open. Someone stepped inside the dark room.
"[DATA EXPUNGED], this is X, our manager."
X was a tall slim man wearing a lab coat over dark formal clothes. He had black short hair and yellow eyes. He… felt similar to the Sephirahs. He used to be someone else. I shook my head. My mad ramblings were inappropriate for the great occasion.
"So, you are the boss of my boss. Who ranks higher between Angela and you?"
"Please, [DATA EXPUNGED]. I am merely his assistant. As an AI, I hold no real standing inside the hierarchy of L Corp."
"Ah, so neither of you are the true boss here then?"
X shook his head and Angela hid a smile. Odd. Intriguing. Confusing. Thinking about this would give me a headache, if the distant wails didn't achieve that first.
"I see. Forgive me, manager. That was rude of me. I am the Control Team captain. I formally apologize for my actions the other day. I was faulty in the head. I… still am. However, I think I am fit to return to my duties. Our team needs training and experience. I wish to assist them."
X smiled at me.
"Remarkable. Please, continue to do your utmost. Until we hire more capable employees, a lot rests on your shoulders."
I tilted my head. It… felt weird. I was sure he was speaking to me… yet why did I feel like he wasn't present? Ah, there it is. A headache.
"Sir."
"We'll overlook your error with One Sin due to your heroic intervention during 1.76 MHz's breach. Please, try not to make such mistakes in the future. You need to set a good example for the rest of the employees."
"Acknowledged."
"That will be all. You may return to your station. The day is about to begin."
"Begins, ends, begins, ends…"
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, sir! Thank you for giving me a second chance. If you'll excuse me."
[DATA EXPUNGED] left me worried. Angela gave me permission to try giving some encouragement to the employees. After what they did, I wanted to give Control Team's captain some kind words. I wanted them to know how much I appreciated their efforts. [DATA EXPUNGED] survived when others didn't. [DATA EXPUNGED] fought when others cowered in fear. I knew I could trust them, so I wasn't willing to finish the day without them surviving.
My assistant heaved a sigh.
"What do you think, Angela? About them? Should I go to the memory repository and avoid the incident with 1.76 MHz?"
Her responses usually were immediate and precise, without giving it any apparent thought. That time, however, she took a hand to her chin. A smile grew on her pretty lips.
"No. [DATA EXPUNGED] shows… promise. Maybe things will be different this time."
Every once in a blue moon, my assistant would say such mysterious comments. Despite her formal and impeccable attitude, she found little moments to tease me. I once told her that made her cute. I would never forget the glare she gave me afterwards. I honestly feared for my life.
"Everyone is ready. Shall we begin? And, manager, please don't forget to assign EGO equipment to the new hires. They won't finish their work at chamber 7 otherwise."
"R-Right."
I took seat and looked at the screen. I would have liked to meet [DATA EXPUNGED] without the Cognition Filter. That [description restricted] employee still looked like the same doll I used to watch on my cameras. Angela said my sanity would take some serious hits if I didn't use that filter… and she was probably right. [DATA EXPUNGED]'s demeanor revealed… anomalies. I had the power to reverse time and give the last few days another go, a chance to fix every death and mistake that happened… but Angela was against it this time, so I chose to follow her advice.
My assistant grabbed the mic.
"A new day, a new abnormality. Today, however, we won't be welcoming any new Enkephalin-creature into our facility. There is not enough space to receive any. That being said, please, everyone. Fill today's energy quota as efficiently as you possibly can."
Slowly, carefully, each employee obeyed my commands and they performed the correct type of work with each abnormality. Yesod finished preparing the G.O Visualization program, helping me visualize each employee HP and SP bar. Health and sanity.
I jolted on my seat upon finding [DATA EXPUNGED] on my screen. Their SP bar was depleted, but they didn't panic or go berserk. I asked Angela about it, but she discarded my worries by telling me that it was a bug in the program. What a relief!
My missions with Yesod were progressing nicely, but Malkuth asked me to complete Qliphoth Meltdown containment unit jobs 8 times. Angela had to remind me the tutorial we went through. On my screen, below the bar that represented the accumulated energy obtained for the day, another bar filled progressively as the employees engaged in work. Once it completed, a Qliphoth Meltdown would occur. A Qliphoth Meltdown was a countdown, of sorts. If I allowed the timer reach to zero, the Qliphoth Counter of an abnormality's containment unit would deplete and a breach would happen. I never noticed that before because I always sent somebody to perform a work before the timer reached zero.
I gulped. My carelessness could have cause another breach like Little Helper's. I had to undo that day many times until I got it right… I didn't even want to think what would have happened if 1.76 MHz wreaked havoc once again…
The thing about Qliphoth Meltdown was… that they took turns with the Ordeals. Today's Ordeal was different.
I cautiously gathered every employee inside the elevators in anticipation to the event. I didn't want chaos to unfold too quickly. When I sent timid Lin inside One Sin's containment unit, the red title of the Crimson Dawn appeared on every monitor in my office. Drums sounded through the speakers and festival music announced the appearance of a few monsters.
The little clowns were humanoid creatures with grinning monstrous faces, hats and thin limbs. One appeared inside Punishing Bird's corridor and the other popped at the tragic road. I selected every employee with my cursor and held my breath, watching the clowns do their thing and studying their behavior.
"Manager, the clowns are stealing the abnormalities' PE-Boxes. You should send someone to suppress them at once."
"R-Right! Give that back!"
I sent everyone to deal with the clown stealing Punishing Bird's PE-Boxes. However, when they stepped inside the corridor, the clown poofed away, setting free the fearsome bird inside. I then looked at the on twitching next to 1.76 MHz.
"Oh, no."
The corridors began flooding with static.
The clowns then targeted the Forsaken Murderer and Little Helper. One of the Control Departments clerks had been shooting some bullets at one of the clowns, so it was weakened. After receiving a hit from Forsaken Murderer's EGO weapon, it began trembling and exploded, killing a few unprotected clerks. The employees were too slow. Even [DATA EXPUNGED], who enjoyed increased movement speed thanks to their incredibly high Justice virtue, failed to prevent Little Helper's breach.
Chaos continued. Death followed.
"Shall we restart the day, manager?"
I clenched my fists.
"I don't deserve to be here. I told [DATA EXPUNGED] to keep up the good work, but I only fail again and again! Tell me, Angela. Did the other managers have such a hard time?"
"Some did, some didn't. What matters is that you find the resolution to persevere through any difficulty. I hope you can reach the end this time, manager."
"Again with the cryptic comments… What do you mean with… the end?"
"You must be tired, manager. Go rest for a bit while I get someone to fix today's mess. We will meet at the Memory Repository Chamber."
After I sent the manager away, I picked a phone and made a call.
"We can offer you [some quantity of energy]. Please, send some rabbits to the Information Department."
"Heh, that's quite a generous deal. Hey, Nikolai! I'm going to L Corp again! We have some grass to graze there!"
