F-01-57
"Who is going to tell Kikas?"
"Don't look at me. I suck at that."
"I agree. Edge-lord's sensitivity shines for its absence."
"Sod off, pink demon."
If they were going to tell me bad news, they could at least be quieter about it. Ek gave an incredibly long sigh. I felt as if my insides had been scooped off my body and stuffed into a box. I surely hit death's door this time around.
"How do you explain something like… that?"
"We would begin by scolding them off for breaking their own body beyond repair. Their entire arms were nothing but mush when Zero brought them. Their missing leg appeared within the many corpses T-01-75 left behind after vanishing back to its containment unit. I personally processed their clinical report. Kikas suffered so many internal hemorrhages in need of suture… and the clerks were so pressured by the other patients coming in… Their death was inevitable. Really, there's a limit to how careless one can get!"
"You scold them, pink-demon. I will do the praise. They fucking tanked an ALEPH on their own! I don't even know if the Inspector would have been capable of such a feat. The most amazing part is that they lived to breathe another day!"
"Breathe, huh? I'm not so sure about that."
"You know what I mean, Ek. Kickass really kicked ass this time. I'm proud!"
"Your pride won't change them back." Lin whispered.
I messed up big time, didn't I?
"I don't care what they look like. To me, Kickass will always be that noisy jerk that bites more than they can chew."
"Is that even a compliment?"
"It is. They're one of the toughest and wildest bastards I've ever known, and I know many. Some shitty metallic cover like that is not enough to restrain them. Just wait and see. Kickass will be up and running in no time."
Gregory knew me well. Shy Look's EGO may have enforced a perpetual state of happiness on me, but my eccentricities were my own. That's what I looked like when I felt unchained and brimming with energy.
Lin censored an entire paragraph on the document they had yet to process. Ek crossed their arms and frowned.
"By the way… do you know what their Sephirah has been up to? She hasn't visited them even once. I know Hod is busy preparing the new and improved teaching material that will allow recruits to start at virtue level 3, but… Kikas is her department's captain. Is she really going to hide away under a rock?"
Not on my watch! I opened my eyes. Correction. I turned on my brown virtual eye. I flailed around to quickly learn everything new about my body.
Huh. I will miss my cheeks.
Moving on!
"Where is Hod?" My robotic voice sounded similar, but I could tell it was made by a synthesizer.
"At her counseling office." Greg quickly answered. "Break a leg."
"Or two!"
I tried to smile. I felt relieved to know I no longer had a face with which express emotions. I was free of my façade. Unrestrained from my facial muscles, I jumped off the bed and broke into a dash.
I tripped down in less than five steps, cranking down and tackling a few clerks. I got up and continued my dash. Stumbling all the way towards my department, the employees flinched at my appearance –both meanings– and raised their weapons, ready to suppress me.
"Stand down this instant, you fools! Do you know who I am?"
Hollow orange letters on the top of my chassis answered the question. And yes, I would kick their butts if they stood on my way any longer than three seconds!
"Hod!"
The office's desk shook at my call, so I surrounded it and forced my Sephirah to exit her hiding spot.
"How long are you going to mope around? And how dare you not visit your incredible super captain at the infirmary?"
"Is… Is that really you…?"
"If by 'really me' you mean 'the awesome and wonderful guardian of the Training Team', that's a yes!"
If any other employee looked at us, however, they would only a Sephirah and its newly appointed robotic assistant. I was no longer human. I shed my flesh and moved into a metallic husk similar to my boss'. My mechanical arms found hers.
"What do you say? Isn't it great? Now my smile won't disturb you anymore!"
Hod touched and inspected me, realizing the consequences of her actions. I grabbed her shoulders and tackled her. Her body was a bit bigger than mine, but her spirit was way weaker.
"You did this to me. I forgive you. Are we done?"
I didn't expect my moronic bluntness to succeed.
"We are. I think I owe you an explanation, Kikas… You see? I have accepted that I am, in fact, a bad person. I only was compassionate to my employees for my own sake. If I wasn't, I would have accepted them refusing my help instead of enforcing it and seeking praise. I have done so many wrongs in my past… I betrayed so many people… I was desperate for redemption, to feel like I could be forgiven… but I just repeated the same errors once again. The meltdown helped me realize how much of a failure I am, but I it also taught me something good."
I kept quiet. Those who didn't speak up didn't give away their ignorance. I seriously had no idea what she was talking about. Her words reached my sensors, but my mind wasn't prepared to extract the meaning from them. My unchanging metallic semblance wouldn't give me away, though.
Hod looked to the ceiling as if she could visualize her ideas over there.
"I don't really care about anyone but myself. Even if everyone hates me, I will continue to help and comfort them, because… my hope is to become a better person."
Such determined statements felt wasted on a numbskull like me. Our posture reminded me of the day I almost died.
"Hey, Kikas. If I had a human face, what would my expression look like?"
I helped her up.
"I wish I could see that, Hod. Your smile would be the sweetest."
"Heehee, really? You're just saying that."
"I mean it. I'm sorry I am not intelligent enough to understand what you are going through. The way I see it, you've always been a good person. It's just that good and bad, happy or sad, all that crap… those concepts are different for each person. I feel relieved to see you have finally decided the type of 'good person' you thrive to be. I'm happy for you."
"I'm sorry it cost you your life."
"Don't be. Now I am liberated, free to express and experience any emotion I feel. I won't have to worry about my troubling expressions anymore because I don't have a face! You're the best, Hod! Thanks!"
"Please, you're not making any sense…" She mumbled moments before exchanging a robotic hug with me.
Happy or angry, good or bad, fleshy or metallic, I would continue to support my Sephirah and my colleagues. I am Kikas! Lobotomy Corporation hasn't heard the last of me, that's for sure!
However, it may have heard the last from the Inspector.
I went to Central Command and looked for Zero. I wanted to thank them for dealing with Knight of Despair after the blessing came undone and she breached. I hoped to find the Inspector with them, but…
"Who might you be?"
"I am Izzy, future captain of Central Team B and Zero's apprentice! And this is Qwerty."
"H-Hi…"
I couldn't believe my sensors. Zero had an apprentice? That empty husk of a person? I fixed my eye onto their punk spiky red head. I grasped my metal fingers.
"Let me guess. You selfishly proclaimed yourself their apprentice, believing that would actually work. You even brought a clerk into your mess. What would your Sephirah think of this behavior?"
"You're one to talk." Zero blurted. For an empty person, they said some amazing things at random moments.
"The Tiphereths are okay with this. I am the most talented person around and they need someone to take care of the second team." Humility wasn't their strong suit, but I didn't hate that. Greg would like them. "Besides! What does it matter if Qwerty is a clerk or not! They are going to achieve great things! I feel it in my bones!"
Zero placed a hand over my flat chassis before warped away, leaving me with their students.
"Hey! That's not fair! Come back, teacher! You have to raise your pupils!"
"Izzy, that's all right, let's go back to work…"
"Nonsense! You and I, Qwerty, you and I are going to master the BRIAH layer!"
Their passion reached me. Gods! Why wasn't Izzy appointed to the Training Team? They would have loved Hod! I just made a vow to assist my Sephirah to the best of my ability, and I wasn't going to go back on my word just yet. A teacher was required and a teacher would arise!
"I've heard your passion and I'll take it on! Follow me and I'll make an elite out of you two!"
Izzy gave me the eye, so I kicked their arse.
"I may look like this now, but I am the elite employee from Training Department! I hold the secrets to great growth and increased success rate!" Freak or not, I am a captain.
"For real?! Forget that Zero, Qwerty, this is the one who will help us reach for the stars!"
"Are you really sure about this, Kikas-senior?"
"Mmmm… Kikas-senior… I like the sound of that! Who would have told? I may have a thing for teaching after all! Good! Let's go test your mettle!"
"Hurray! I've been training to death to reach this moment!"
Honestly, I entertained the idea of pushing both of them in, but that funny choice could cost them their lives. I wasn't going to lose my pupils on their first day at work, so I asked for a few favors. I got them mighty EGO protection. Penitence gear (from One Sin) for Qwerty and Grinder Mk4 (from All-Round Helper) for Izzy.
"F-01-57. Which of you can tell me what these numbers represent?"
"F meant the abnormality came from fairy tales, no? I-I heard it from a friend."
"That's right!" Their partner cheered.
"To be precise, the letter classifies an abnormality origin. F for Fairy Tale, T for Trauma, O for Original and D for Donator." I explained in detail. "The second number classifies its type: 01 for humanoids, 02 for animals, 03 for religious, 04 for inanimate objects, 05 for machines or artifacts, 06 for abstractions or amalgamations, 07 for breaching tools, 08 for [REDACTED] and 09 for simpler tools. The Mountain of Smiling Bodies falls under the 01 category because it was made from human corpses. When I fought it, though, it resembled a mouth monster rather than a human."
"Y-y-you fought that thing?"
I extended two of my metallic fingers.
"And I triumphed despite every adversity, hahahaha!" I'll omit the little detail about dying and being subjected to a confidential procedure to be reanimated. "I am the greatest! I might even be at the same level as my savior."
"Your savior?"
"The Red Mist. I joined this Wing in hopes of meeting her."
"A color works for L Corp? That's incredible!"
That Qwerty clerk was easy to impress. I usually didn't develop attachment to unexperienced workers, but it would be nice if they were able to officially join the Discipline Team. I felt a kinship with them and their blond ponytail. Long live the ponytail!
"Teach, what does the 57 stand for?" Izzy resumed the lesson.
"That's just the entry number. It means there are fifty-six more abnormalities recognized on the encyclopedia."
"That many?"
"There is an abnormality coded O-01-111, you know? That doesn't even include the aberrations."
"O-Oh…"
"Worry not, Qwerty, my mate. L Corp doesn't contain all the abnormalities inside a single facility. That's what the branches are for. It's normal for abnormalities to be transported to and from another site. That way reorganization becomes possible according to the Wing's needs and capacity to manage each abno."
"I'm impressed, Izzy. You've done your homework." I praised.
"Of course I have. My rebellious hair may not look the part, but I am actual nobility."
"Really? What Wing?"
"That doesn't matter. My parent's achievements are theirs. I want my own. To fill the story of my life!"
They would either succeed gloriously or die trying, that much was clear.
"Well then, my apprentices. Normally, I would throw to your faces the official manual to deal with this abnormality, but nothing is known about F-01-57, so you're going to in 'raw'."
If Qwerty's shaking wasn't enough for the both of us, my hands trembled as I approached the lever that unlocked the door to the containment unit. A scythe-like dagger rested below my neck.
"Are you the representative of this faction?"
Threatening me next to the opened door, a red-hooded female mercenary waited for my response… menacingly! I gulped my nerves and summoned my confidence.
"I am. Who might you be?"
The abno removed the weapon from my neck and walked forward. She wore black clothes and bandages. Thanks to her red hood and her teeth-like mask, only a yellow right eye could be seen from the shadows of her face. Hanging from her belt, the scythe dagger and a shotgun pistol were stained with the blood of her previous victims.
"I'm a pro. If you make a request, then I might help you. I used to be expensive, but I'll cut you some slack here, under one condition. Hand that dreadful, cunning bastard over to me if you ever see him. I'll hang his head over my bed. Only then can I get up in the morning without having a nightmare."
Shit… I couldn't fit a name that long in the résumé.
"Do you have a codename, miss?"
She raised and tilted her head to give me a proper measuring. I could see some scars on her chin.
"Little Red Riding Hooded Mercenary."
Conversation proceeded flawlessly. Insight usually work well with cold 01 types. I wrote her name down and checked Insight. Little Red moved right next to me when I resumed the work. Her face told a story through the battle scars.
"Where is that monster?"
"I'm sorry, miss, but you will have to be a little more specific. Lobotomy Corporation houses all kinds of aberrations." I explained. "Could it be… that you came here in search of this… 'dreadful, cunning bastard'?"
"That's right. My nemesis is a flesh-loving bastard. A Big Bad Wolf. There's no mistaking him. You find him, I kill him. Free of charge."
"I'll emphasize that on my notes, miss."
Something dangerous might happen if she encounters her nemesis. Her eye… it gleams with a murderous intent whenever she speaks of him.
"You mentioned you accepted requests. Considering your gear, I take it you specialize in combat missions. What kind of currency do you demand?" Please, don't ask for human sacrifices. I've read the documents about abnormalities at the sister locations. Scary stuff.
"I heard about your deal with R Corp. You give them energy; they give you dead bodies. I charge accordingly to my target. The higher the threat, the more I will demand… in advance."
"Here at Lobotomy Corporation we have a threat classification. We will disclose it to you in a future occasion. For now-"
Little Red grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against the wall. Her strength was abnormal. Figures. She's an abnormality. Still, I was wearing a HE grade EGO highly resistant to Red damage. The fact she made her strike hurt regardless of my EGO was a testament to her power.
In case I hadn't noticed who I was dealing with, she beat me around a couple more times. I felt grateful that she was only using her fists. Had she picked her weapons, I would be dead where I stood.
"Let this be a lesson that I am not to be messed with. I'm not stuck in this place with you; you're stuck in here with me."
"Understood… ma'am."
My knees trembled like a young lamb's, but I made it out of the chamber in one piece. My master bot and Qwerty received me with applause.
"Great work! There's a tradition at this corp. Whenever the Inspector finished examining the new abnos, they pasted some of their notes on the wall so that every employee and clerk could get an idea of how to deal with the abno contained. Since you are the first to work with F-01-57, here!"
Do not mess with Little Red.
She wants to kill Big Bad Wolf.
Insight works fine, but be on your best behavior. Repression isn't wise. The only Attachment possible is through her REQUESTs. As for Instinct… you should be high level enough to resist some struggle. I think she would appreciate some new bandages.
Little Red will fight for us by paying her energy.
Experienced hunter. I say we don't allow too many breaches around her. She's not one to step away from a challenge. –Izzy
Kikas-senior stared at my notes for a while, giving off a sorrowful mood.
