O-06-20

What the fuck was Ek doing? Their captain was down in the dumps and they left them alone? I couldn't believe I, of all people, had to be the reasonable one! Before the day started, I made my way to [DATA EXPUNGED]'s quarters and kicked the door open.

"Depression begone! Long faces are not allowed in the presence of the great Gregory!"

I did the right thing by visiting them, but not for the reasons I expected.

"Hey, Greg. Good morning."

On their left, the incessant torrent of oppressive happy comments wore their ears off. On their right, a dead-faced clown drained the colors from the area around it.

"This is a happy morning, so why won't you open your eyes? We've got a lot of work to do!" Kickass pulled their arm.

"Inspection is required." Zero mentioned as a whisper from the wind.

I asked to myself whether [DATA EXPUNGED] was a magnet for EGO freaks. At least it was reliving to see Zero ready to rejoin their duties. I grabbed the freaks and kicked them outside the dorm, locking the door behind them.

I pushed [DATA EXPUNGED] onto the bed and glared at them.

"W-What are you doing, Greg?" They blushed.

"Show me."

"Show you what?"

"Don't try to hide it. I've known you the longest. I learnt to see through your facades to rob you of your savings. You can't fool me. Just show me."

Some things would never change. [DATA EXPUNGED] surrendered.

Their eyes were gone. Instead, a white dot replaced their pupils in the darkness of their empty sockets.

"Will I be able to play the violin again, doctor?"

"Now is not the time for jokes, you idiot." I grumbled trying to contain the smile. "I'm impressed you can actually goof like an idiot with your eyes in that state. The incident with 1.76 MHz… the Silent Orchestra… the Knight of Despair… What did the Jester of Nihil do to you this time?"

"I don't know. When I tried some… er… Repression on it-"

"Repression?! Are you nuts?!"

"I was out of it, okay? Too much had been happening at that time. I wasn't thinking straight…"

"'When you tried some, er, Repression on it…' continue."

"I noticed how my EGO weapon was starting to get into my head and… I kinda broke down into tears. I failed to find any hope to grab onto. I couldn't see the light at the end of this… I was so out of it I didn't even notice what that clown did to me."

"'The Inspector of the year' you are. Did you even get to take any notes on it?"

They shrugged, confessing their negligence with blushed colors.

"Really… Get your act together, will you? You may not have a hope of your own, but to the rest of us, you are that light."

Suddenly, they raised up and grabbed my shoulders.

"What did you just say?"

"You're really going to make me repeat myself, you sadist?! You're begging to be punched right now!"

"Please!"

They were so desperate I sensed something else was happening. I huffed. If it was so important to them, I would make an exception.

"You, oh, our savior, may not have hope of your own, but you, oh, valiant hero, are the light that fills us with determination and hope for the future. Did that fill your ego?"

Definitively, there was something else going on that I wasn't noticing. They laughed so hard, shiny black tears exited their lacrimals. I didn't expect them to hug me so tightly. Sudden like a storm, they picked their magic staff and smashed through the door.

"See that? I am the great Gregory, captain of the Safety Team, and I spouted some fucking bullshit that happened to be what they needed to listen. Am I the best or what?" I frowned. "Yeah, I'm beating that idiot later for leaving without explaining anything."

[DATA EXPUNGED] wasn't alone, so they didn't need to keep everything to themselves.

Ah! Greg was indeed the best! They helped me realize something amazing!

There is hope for me! I saw it myself! Inside my mind! I just needed to find a way to extract it! Destiny! Throw me a bucket or something!

Running through the quarters of Control Department, someone waited for me next to a corner. I literally got on my knees.

"Please, Angela! Don't take this away from me! I beg you! I'm so close now! I can already feel it! It's right there! I just have to reach for it!"

Her golden eyes studied my sockets.

"A is going to return tomorrow."

A? As in… the big boss? The head of Lobotomy Corporation?

"I-I don't understand. Why are you telling me this? Aren't you… going to reset the day to make me forget? Or… are you telling me this exactly because you're going to abuse the Record Department's functions?"

"I didn't expect you to know that much."

"I have a hard time forgetting things, you know? Explosions, silence, screams… Everything ends up back there, one way or the other. I just have to listen." I explained, touching the back of my head. "Does this mean… it will reset? Is the cycle lost? Am I ruining things?"

It felt so weird to remember things that I ignored the meaning of. I just said the words, but the truth was there… just out of my reach. Angela tucked her hair behind the ear.

"The other cycles weren't like this. You never got to change this much. How you fit into the equation is yet to be discovered. You can relax. I won't take anything from you anymore. Now that you've opened your eyes to the light inside you, it would be pointless."

Sweet relief! Finally! I did it! What exactly, I did not know, but who cares?!

"It is too soon to celebrate, [DATA EXPUNGED]. If you know about the Record Team's functions, then you will surely realize the nature of our company. The project designer didn't take into consideration a variable like you. According to the script, tomorrow is the day where I activate the Memory Imprint on X, turning that iteration into a product as real as the original."

I pressed a hand against my forehead, trying to understand the meaning of her warning. When I raised my eyes again, she had warped away.

"That's not the kind of bucket I wanted. That's a bucket of cold water."

What would you do if this were your last day alive? Death is not the end that I'm talking about. What if your very existence were to be erased?

My name… My name is [DATA EXPUNGED]. That's me. [DATA EXPUNGED]. [DATA EXPUNGED]. I was born at [REDACTED]. I am [REDACTED] years old. [REDACTED]. My favorite color is [REDACTED].

And I… I am scared. Will I be forgotten? For now, everything seems to be fine, but… what about tomorrow? What was A going to do to me, an anomaly in their project?

I… … … … I had work to do.

"You're here."

Zero didn't even comment on my eyes. They only cared for my presence.

"It's an ALEPH again, [DATA EXPUNGED]. If you don't feel confident about it, I shall… … … You're not okay."

"I'm not. Is it okay if I keep hugging you for a while? Today is an important day."

"Suit yourself."

Zero never got to hug me back, but it didn't matter. I had a lot of things left to do.

When I released, I noticed the huge blue eye observing us through the chamber's window. O-06-20 continued to study us, expectant, like a curious newborn, huffing and puffing heaving breathing that sounded like an old motor.

At that moment, I made up my mind. If I survived that thing, I would tell my friends everything. My visions… the voice… the truth about the Wing… Everything. I might be erased tomorrow, but I wouldn't go down without a fight.

I approached the door and stared back at the eye. After a contest that lasted for about two minutes, the eye's owner cleared from the door. The creature was made from human parts, like a twisted and abstract Frankenstein whose creator missed the anatomy lessons during college. The creature had a large rectangular head with 2 mouths, a huge one where it should go and another on the forehead. From the bigger one, a tongue bigger than my head hung over the teeth. It had 4 light-blue eyes on its face and a large blue arm protruding from its head upwards. Its 2 frontal legs were nothing but literal columns of bones, while the back leg was made from intestines. Its torso was transparent, revealing red, blue and green intestines. A dark liquid dripped from it. The rest of the body was made from bones or muscles.

It was like… it wanted to learn from humans.

I pressed a hand against the crystal. Nothing There pressed their blue claw.

"Watch me, creature. This might be your last chance to experience me."

I kicked the door to encourage it to clear away and I entered the chamber. Repression was probably a suicidal thought with an ALEPH. Its breathing was so heavy and noisy I doubted conversation was possible, even if I enjoyed watching us talk.

"Hello?" It said.

My empty eyes widened. Conversation might not be so impossible after all.

"Hello."

As I closed my mouth from answering, Nothing There lunged at me making a horrendous screech. Its mouth bit my arm and the arm behind its head buried its claws into my shoulder. Then it pulled. My bones cracked one after the other until, finally, my arm came off.

I felt like a toy, if not for the insanity-inducing pain.

Containing the hemorrhage with my other arm, I kicked the abno away and got as far as I could. It feasted on my arm, but not like you would expect from a hungry beast. It… tore it open and tried putting it on, as it were a shell the creature could wear.

"[DATA EXPUNGED]. Do you need assistance?"

I shot a murderous look towards my careless partner. However, nothing happened. Conversation was what triggered the attack before. What was different? Zero. Zero was different. Before I reached the hallway from Discipline Department, the abno didn't show any interest in them, fact that changed as soon as I entered its field of view. It was interested in me and not in Zero.

The deciding difference between the two was our humanity. Nihil EGO rendered Zero's state into anything but human. Nothing There was obsessed with humans so far it tried to dissemble the first human it interacted with in order to study it.

What should I do, then? Showing more of my humanity towards it may trigger another attack. … When I hugged Zero, it didn't become hostile. It just… watched.

I turned my back on the ALEPH that toyed with my severed arm and approached the door.

"Zo, how waz your day, Zero? Did you zleep well?"

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Cauz. Thiz thing wantz to learn how to be human. I'm hindering their effortz by teaching them a pronunziation that will give them away if they ever zuczeed in becoming human. Juzt talk to me. It iz watching."

I could literally feel its heavy breath behind my neck. Its eye was so close to me I was tempted to advice it to get further so it could examine my posture and other human aspects they would need in its goals. However, addressing that would be the end of me, and blood loss was becoming a bigger issue by the second.

After a completely sorry excuse for an Attachment work with the door, the green happy face blinked on the window that separated us.

"Open the door and cloze it before it getz me."

"Yes."

Without any warning, Zero obeyed my command, opened the door, grabbed my clothes and pulled me outside. Their EGO weapon sliced Nothing There before it could attempt to breach. The door closed and, a finger snap later, the magic cards returned to their owner.

"Let's see… my notebook… Oh, no. Zero, do you mind... yowch... writing the memos down for me? I kinda... left my arm in there."

Nothing There wants to be like you, so it will try to strip your shell and wear it.

Employees with Fortitude level 3 or less shouldn't enter this unit.

Don't show your humanity in front of it, or it will attempt to wear you. Insight work not advised.

It will invariable engage in hunting you. Don't Repress, though. It will only fight harder.

Instinct and Attachment showed best results. As for the method… just do whatever your instincts tell you to. To show Attachment… talk to the wall. It likes observing.

It behaves like a monster, but it is trying to become human. As it learns, the day where it perfects its shell gets closer. On that day, it will become one of us… moments before it ends everything in its path.

If someone you know was assigned to work with O-06-20 and returns like a different person, sound the second trumpet immediately. Mistakes will be forgiven. –Inspector

I tried getting up on my own, but anemia stole my energy. The empty clown grabbed my only arm left and helped me stand up. They pressed a black hand against my wound and the colors drained from the blood pouring onto the floor. Next destination: the infirmary.

On the way there, I asked Ek to fetch me a coffee I could offer the nurse. Obviously, they ignored my request and noticed my eyes and my new stump. After stealing me from Zero and carrying me the rest of the way in a hurry, the clown silently looked for a coffee-vending machine.

Between the anesthetics and the pain-killers, I felt so stunned I wasn't able to say anything until the end of the day. I was a really sorry sight. A gravely wounded employee who grunted songs to fend off the explosions. I wouldn't have judged the clerk if they chose to give me a straitjacket.

"The energy quota was met. Good work, everyone. You deserve some rest."

Angela's voice echoed through the hallways, announcing the end of the day. I called the nurse to request a favor from them. I had something I needed to say to my friends, so I wanted to gather them.

Before I could finish telling them their names, the infirmary's door slid open.

"Noooo! Are you hurt? Your eyes itch? Are you unhappy?" Kickass jumped at my side.

"You forgot this at Discipline, dumbfuck." Greg threw my staff onto my lap.

"Uwaah… their arm is gone… I'm not looking forward to meeting the abno that did it."

I grinned.

"You won't have to worry, Lin. I think I got a good understanding on Nothing There's nature. I lost my arm due to my reticence to wear an EGO." I reassured the pink-haired captain.

I expected silence from Zero, but not from Ek.

"I owe you an apology, don't I? Sorry for giving you such a scare. Again."

Ek chopped my head with their hand. I almost fainted, but I could endure a hit or two. I really had to stop giving my adjutant causes for worry… They always played it cool, but they were more fragile than they let on.

There they were. Ekpmephtil, Lin, Kickass, Gregory and Zero… My friends.

"My name is [DATA EXPUNGED]."

In their own way, each expressed their confusion. Mud came out my eyes. That may be the last time I saw all of them gathered before me. My voice cracked.

"Will you remember me?"