Fruit of Understanding

"Okay, everyone. We're about to face the Violet Noon Ordeal. We know the purple blobs that spawn during the Violet Dawn prefer hallways, like every other ordeal we've faced so far. Each team, wait in your Main Rooms until the manager delivers your orders. Violet Ordeals tend to reduce Qliphoth Counters if left unchecked, so we better work fast."

[DATA EXPUNGED] was the ASIYAH hero everyone looked up to. With them at the front of every operation, things were easy to control. After our work is done and they can leave the corporation, I want to offer them a drink. They did everything I asked of them and more. If they died… Angela would tell me we could just find a replacement, but I didn't think their life could be so easily replaced.

Lizt entered Child of the Galaxy's containment unit.

Great love for us. We could only hear the weakest and faintest of their acts. We sought for love and compassion from them.

I received notifications from every Sephirah telling me in one way or another that everyone in their departments were dead. Worst of all, [DATA EXPUNGED] barely survived to witness their whole team massacre.

I sighed.


"Okay, everyone. We're about to face the Violet Noon Ordeal. The manager has ordered us to stay inside the elevators. The moment they give the signal, we move out and suppress what he described as 'purple monoliths with tentacles'. Portals open at the ceiling of the facility's rooms and drops the monoliths, causing a huge amount of damage to anyone inside."

A new cup of coffee appeared on my desk.

"Did you know suppressing Ordeals counts as managing abnormalities? By suppressing them we produce Enkephalin, closing the gap to finish the day."

"Huh."

Angela only cared for the energy produced, ignoring the pleas of help the employees screamed day after day. When I confronted her about it, she shrugged and regretted the need of sacrifices to meet our goals, but no emotion surfaced on her beautiful face.

I couldn't believe I shared champagne with that machine.

Great love for us. We could only hear the weakest and faintest of their acts. We sought for love and compassion from them.

Who was I to criticize her? I didn't move the clerks away from the rooms where the monoliths appeared. The thought didn't even cross my mind. They weren't producing energy for the company, so I neglected them. The clerks were only good for keeping the healing functions of the Main Rooms. They would be replaced by the next day anyway.

I clenched my fists.

We cannot understand them, nor will they understand us.

But I needed to understand. Why was she so cruel? I knew she could feel things… or at least emulate them, so why didn't her metallic heart hurt whenever an employee suffered a terrible fate? Why did she omit their deaths as mere numbers in the report at the end of every day? What was her goal? Why was I chosen to be the manager? I can only formulate questions, but no answer came from them. I considered myself a person capable of reading people, but Angela was special.

My back hurt from my tense posture.

During my first week of work, Angela massaged me once or twice.

I sipped my coffee and sheltered inside its sour aroma.

Why were things devolving into this disaster so quickly? When would it end?