T-01-75 & Hod

The announcement happened during the breakfast.

"Employee [Confidential ID], please head to the manager's office."

My ghostly eyes squinted as destiny lurked closer. I did all the mourning necessary the day before, so I would maintain my composure as I headed to the execution plaza. I was told to go to that office, but few people actually knew how to get there. Following the schematics of the Tree of Life, you had to reach the deepest department, beyond the ATZILUTH level.

The last time I went there, Angela warped me in and out. Now, however, I had to go by foot. Moving past the Disciplinary Department, I utilized a crowbar to forcibly open the elevator shaft. Humming a lovely song, I flew down. It was a bit hard to keep my balance with my new mechanical arm, but I learnt after a few scratches against the metallic chasm. Fluttering like a pink firefly, I plunged into the darkest abyss. Extraction Department, unlike the heavy reds from Discipline, was a completely obscure location where black pillars with glowing yellow letters dimly lit the area.

That wasn't my stop, however, so I continued descending. I proceeded slowly after the echo ceased coming back. I reached the end. The corridor there was prepared to house more abnormalities, but the corridors were empty and dark. I took out my pen and wrote something on one of the walls.

The manager's office was just like I remembered it. However, the person who seated in the center was different, albeit his body remained the same. A got up.

"Welcome, [DATA EXPUNGED]. I've been waiting for you. Follow me. There's something I want to show you."

"Aye, aye…"

'Am I going to be erased?' The question spiraled inside my mind thousands of times, but I never pronounced it aloud. Whatever my destiny was going to be, it was out of my control. The echoes of our steps through the corridors were not enough to keep the explosions at bay, but I didn't dare to hum.

When the explosions ended… nothing else came after the silence. I collapsed on all fours from the shock. That was the end of the line. The confirmation of my fears. The culmination of my future.

"Can we go back, sir? I… I don't want this."

A offered me his hand to get up.

"You must be confused, [DATA EXPUNGED]. Don't fret. You've made it this far. I will find you a place in the equation."

Shaking like a newborn, I took his hand and followed him into a secret elevator. I thought we would go even deeper into the earth, but we ascended instead. I remembered the diagram. There was something in the middle, below Central Command. A spot Angela guarded against Servant of Wrath's acid bubble.

The elevator's lid opened and gave way to a room not bigger than Central Command. However, it contained a giant jar of green liquid. Inside, an angel was contained. Its head, a brain; its wings, nerves expanding outwards; its torso, the spinal cord.

"Before Lobotomy Corporation came to be, we were a small laboratory that researched something called 'Mind Disease'. We would help everyone find their own light and give them their own wings. We were going to change everything for the better."

"Then turning your corporation into an abnormality-fueled energy factory was not originally in your plans, right?"

A didn't even listen to me, continuing their monologue as if the whole thing was scripted.

"Cogito. The substance of life and death. A concept materialized."

I looked back at the nerve creature.

"The experiments failed, but progress was achieved… for a price so high I almost succumbed to despair. That's when it hit me. I had Lobotomy Corporation under my control… so I just had to find a way to make our dreams come true."

"Dreams. That's a word I haven't experienced in a long time. Too much noise during the night."

"By extracting the mind, limitless energy could be produced from the Cogito. However, energy-production was a secondary objective. The means to an end."

"Aw. And here I always thought releasing a brand of energizing refreshments was one of the main goals…"

The head of L Corp stopped his ramblings and turned to stare at me. I shrugged.

"Look, A. I am not a scientist. I used to be a nobody before joining your Wing. I don't get all of this complicated mumbo-jumbo. All I ever wanted was to keep being myself… I don't want to go away like a faint dream."

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "But you're not going anywhere."

Where did [DATA EXPUNGED] go? After we met them at the infirmary, they tried to say something, but remained silent in the end. Greg and me were talking about it this morning. Next time, we would punch the happy answers out of them!

I shadowboxed inside the Training Main Room, anticipating the happy punches I would throw to get closer to the Inspector.

"Where's Tiffany? They're late for their counseling session. Why aren't they here?"

"Hi, Hod! You should check the morgue. The clerk there always makes me laugh with their inappropriate jokes!"

"They're dead…?"

"Blown to happy bits by the Queen of Hate."

Oblivious to what was going to happen, I continued goofing around.

"They never got to thank me for all the counselling I did… Did they hate me that much?"

"They just used you to get their grubby hands on some Enkephalin."

"You criticize me as well? I believed I could rely on you!"

"I'm not criticizing you, though? I'm just stating the truth. Let's be happy, okay?"

"Why? Why are you insulting me like that?"

My Sephirah stumbled backwards and tripped down. I noticed rests of Enkephalin on exiting her seams. I didn't know she indulged in drugs as well…

"How come nobody understands my kindness? Where's Tiffany? We had an appointment for two hours ago… I want to help as much as I can here. I wish everyone would rely on me."

I tried to get closer, but the robot crept away, shouting me to stay still. I happily obeyed. Suddenly, her chassis broke down. Black gears formed the base where her small mechanical legs rested. Two large appendages came out from the left side of her dark robotic hull, rising up to the brown ceiling. Her orange virtual eye couldn't close, so I had a hard time expressing my happiness in front of her.

Angela sounded through the speakers.

"Attention, everyone. The Training Department's Sephirah is going through a Meltdown. Take the measures necessary to fill today's energy quota and reach Qliphoth Meltdown 6. That is all."

Hod stared at me. I stared back.

"Will you feel better at the end of the day?" I asked.

You won't make it to the end of the day. Not when I stand against you. I'll erase that smile off your face.

"I'm happy…"

After my EGO gift clouded my thoughts and infected them with nothing but good feelings, I became the happiest person of the world. Everyone around me hated me for it. They were jealous and frightened of me.

The broken Sephirah in front of me was different. Hod worried about me and programmed so many counseling sessions for me I spent more time at her office than at my own quarters.

"I'll make you happy too, Hod. If I can't, then I'll stop smiling. See you at the end of this."

I removed my mask. The smile I would show during her darkest hour would be my own, not the machination of a timid abnormality.

As tradition, we gathered at Information Main Room to discuss our strategy for the day. Everyone was there. Everyone, except the employee who collected train tickets and…

"Where's the Inspector? Have they not arrived yet?"

"They have gone missing. I cannot reach the captain through coms." Ek explained.

"Where could they be?! We're in a state of emergency!" Lin grumbled.

"I bet [DATA EXPUNGED] is inspecting T-01-75. That fucktard is so irritatingly careless they don't even inform anyone of their moves! Now that they also are able to fly, getting a hold of them is even harder than ever!"

I, Kikas, the hunter of the [DATA EXPUNGED], was the most veteran tracker or their moves, yet I also ignored where they went this time. It was like they disappeared into thin air!

"They are not with T-01-75." Zero pointed out, materializing out of thin air. A few people had heart attacks, myself included. "They are nowhere."

A brazen employee from Central B raised a voice.

"With Inspector or without them, we have to address the emergency. It IS an emergency, after all."

I didn't like it, but that punk redhead was right.

Lin took command of the situation and adjusted their new glasses, the result of overused tired eyes.

"Our opponent this time is none other than Hod. Her counseling sessions and training practices are well-known to many of you."

"She's so insistent!"

"I hate doing pointless things! Her lessons won't help us survive!"

My smile twitched.

"Come on, team. Just the other day you commented how happy you were about getting the maximum output from Scorched Girl."

My teammate directed their cold eyes at me.

"Not thanks to Hod."

My lips started hurting from the force I had to exercise to keep the smile. One of the newer additions to our team spoke up.

"I like her method. She's just trying to help us, but she goes a bit overboard with it."

As gentle and good-willed as Hod's method tried to be, no preparation could possibly prevent us from dying a cruel death at the hands of higher grade abnos or mentally corrupted coworkers. Our team was tired of such hypocrisy and took their frustrations out on the one pressuring them.

Such a tragedy…

"What do the Training Team think will happen this time?" Lin continued. "We endured pixelated vision from my department and mixed up orders from Control. What can we expect from Hod?"

"Nothing! She's as useless as can be!"

That freaking Coline was so rude they even head-butted my fist. Twice! As expected, I was pushed out of the way before they could continue hitting my fist.

"You freak! Are you trying to kill me?!"

I couldn't manage a calm retort, so I simply smiled. Ek excused us and dragged me outside the room. I didn't want to be there anyway. They were just going to badmouth and backstab the Sephirah that tried the hardest to help them… and I didn't want any of that.

Ek frowned at me.

"How long are you going to maintain that grin? You're not happy. You're furious."

"That's right. That's exactly why I must hold fast to this smile. I may go berserk if I decide to become angry. That's how it works…"

"…good work keeping that in…"

"Thanks, Ek. I'm a bit happier now."

"What do you think about the meltdown? You know Hod the best."

"Since you started working before our department was expanded, you didn't get to see the training materials and guidebooks that Hod gives every single new employee, regardless of their station. What do you think it would happen if all of that training… was gone?"

"Gone? How?"

"The 'how' doesn't matter. Things that don't make sense keep happening inside this corporation. This is my prediction: since Hod feels betrayed, she's going to betray our growth and reduce our virtues."

"That's… a scary thought. Everyone would need to be reevaluated and repurposed in order to work with the correct abnormalities. EGO suits would have to be mandatory, too, considering our HP and SP would decrease along with our Fortitude and Patience."

"Hahaha. Don't forget what happens when you forcefully put an EGO on without meeting the virtue requirements to endure its heavy influence. Worst case scenario, they might be absorbed by the EGO. If the employees are not careful, casualties would only keep adding up."

Ek pressed their fingers against their forehead, attempting to measure the difficulty of the day we were facing next. Pointless. No matter what we did, people would die because of the imposed fragility. If working with the abnos didn't kill us, the Ordeals would.

When we joined the strategy meeting, Ek explained the situation in my stead. They would be listened. I wouldn't. I was a freak. I missed the Inspector. They were the first person to acknowledge me despite my eccentricities.

The plan Lin and the others designed was simple. No EGOs of HE and above grade were allowed for the day, with Zero's exception to avoid the magical girls' ritual. Everyone would continue working like always with appropriately measured abnormalities that yielded high amounts of energy without the need to shoulder high risks.

One Sin, Punishing Bird, Forsaken Murderer, 1.76 MHz, Today's Shy Look, Scorched Girl, Fragment of the Universe and Child of the Galaxy. Those were the chosen abnormalities that would receive work for the day. Spider Bud was a risky bet. If Prudence levels lowered too much, the employee would end up a cocoon. Despite being a HE, the pebble the Child of the Galaxy offered would be indispensable for the reception of the Ordeals.

I smiled at the pile of burnt corpses Scorched Girl killed. My teammates panicked so hard when their training failed them… they even had the gall to wonder why that was happening. I stopped smiling once I noticed who was going to feel guilty over their deaths.

Shaking my head, I forced the corners of my mouth to extend.

Suddenly, a clerk shouted through the speakers an emergency.

"Sound the Second Trumpet! T-01-75 has breached containment! It's coming here! No! Keep it away! Ahhhgrh! No- Please- Nooooooooooo!"

That notice alone was enough to drain the weakened employees' sanity, causing conflicts as I headed towards Central Command's Main Room. Ek got their hands full of beating mad employees who shot at each other. Thankfully, The Head made restrictions that prevented the construction of old gun models, so it usually took many a bullet to cause any real damage. Nonetheless, a well-placed shot was capable of ending even the mightiest employee, especially if they were weakened.

The corpses kept piling up and my smile faded bit by bit.

When I arrived at Central, a Mountain of Smiling Bodies welcomed me. T-01-75 was a big black spherical mass, encrusted with different parts and debris. It possessed a big mouth with visible teeth with some tips covered in blood. Part of its body was covered with white masks with twisted expressions, all with two black eyes and a mouth. The Mountain supported itself with two thick limbs that looked thin compared to its main body. Furthermore, it dragged along a similar body as big as theirs, giving them the appearance of a group of entities chained together.

When the night falls in the Backstreets, they will come.

The metal from the golden ceiling melted and gave way to a group of humanoid beings that wore metallic armor. They had red visor gas masks, hooks for hands and tanks on their backs.

"Sweepers?!"

Who would win? An invading force of flesh melting carrions or a hungry pile of smiling corpses? T-01-75 let out a roar so powerful I nearly fainted. The unaffected Sweepers struck afterwards and buried their liquefying hooks onto the abnormality, turning the second black body into a mud-like goop they then proceeded to absorb through the orifices in their masks.

The Mountain had none of it and crunched the Sweepers with its powerful teeth. The Sweepers' armor crumbled and leaked their liquid flesh onto the ground. It was both funny and horrifying watching the ALEPH trying to consume the spilt liquid. Frustrated, it set its sights on the next consumable body available: mine.

I ran for my life, laughing like a maniac. There was no way some TETH gun would made a dent on that thing. I needed something… stronger.

"In the name of love and justice, here comes Magical Girl!"

"That's rad! Keep it busy, Mad!"

"Sure thing, Kikas! I'll fend off this evil monster! Arcana beats!"

I gave the queen a nickname after continuously fighting by her side. Madeline, the girl who goes mad. She felt offended at first and nearly breached when she heard it, but I insisted that it was a show of our affection towards her. I wasn't going to let the Inspector hog all the cute girls all for themselves!

Mad got crunched to death. She didn't even get to go nuts before she got massacred.

"I'm sorry, Mad… I'll be happy to make good use of the time you bought for me."

T-01-75 was dangerously near the elevator to the ASIYAH level, so I locked the mechanism before it could go up. Zero warped next to the ALEPH and got its attention. They may be empty inside, but at least they still had enough wits to avoid engaging that monster. With weakened attributes, we were no match for that mountain.

A couple of employees hid inside conveniently placed boxes.

"Fuck! Fuck! Everyone in Discipline is dead! I just came from there… There were no corpses… Just blood everywhere. Their Sephirah was the only survivor, but it was heavily damaged. We're gonna die!"

I ignored them and proceeded to enter O-01-94's containment unit. The Servant of Wrath halted her reading.

"What is happening outside? I've heard screams for a while. Is everything okay?" She asked.

I knelt to her level and embraced her.

"I'm gonna be happily frank. I'm going to become your friend. Will you help me?"

"My friend? An existence that is more special than the others… I want a friend. Are you really sure?"

"Yeah. I need your help."

"Say no more, friend. What do you want me to do?"

While the Magical Girl of Courage bathed the Mountain of Smiling Bodies with bone-melting acid, I entered the O-01-73's chamber and hugged the Magic Girl of Justice until I squeezed the blessing out of her.

Zero was waiting for me outside. They gave me exactly what I wanted.

"The green girl is being eaten as we speak. Good luck."

I put on the strongest gear we had available, one I could handle even weakened: a dark plated armor with yellow gleaming seams. I slid my hand inside Gold Rush, a golden gauntlet that allowed my primal desires to break free with each strike.

"Make confetti out of me if need be." I requested the clown.

I opened a portal and jumped onto the deadly mountain of corpses. I punched broken one of its masks, making it groan in pain. Before it rolled around and smashed me with its huge bulk, I dashed inside another portal that took me to the ceiling. Gravity added its strength to my next blow. The abno coughed dark blobs of meat.

I could painfully feel the bones of my fist breaking into smithereens. The blessing wasn't meant to protect me from T-01-75. It was there so that I could endure the backlash from the fight. It would only take one good munch from that ALEPH to kill me, anyway, so I pummeled it again and again until I could no longer use my right hand.

Gritting my teeth with anger, I channeled avarice and exchanged the right gauntlet for the left one. I could still move. I could still fight.

"I'm angry!"

I rested atop the unmoving pile of smashed corpses. Nobody smiled in Central anymore. Not the survivors, not the bodies, not me. I glanced at the new stump on my right leg. I couldn't feel my arms either. The blessing ceased to work.

"Now I'm done."

Suffering and wailing my wounds out loud, the image of someone visited my mind.

"Where are you… [DATA EXPUNGED]?"

Zero warped next to me and robotically picked me up. Space blended around us.

"I don't know about them, but you are at the infirmary."

"Goddamit, Zero! I told you we don't have enough beds for all of-"

The nurse made a shocked grimace.

"Hey, doc. Mind patching me up a little? I don't want to die."

The smile I gave the clerk felt different. The anesthetics I was injected prevented me from thinking any further. I fell fast asleep. Good night.

I guess I just never was a good person from the start…

…I hope I get to live to see tomorrow… I made a promise… to her…