O-03-93
The research from the Record Team was bearing its fruits. The limits of our virtue levels were expanded one by one. I didn't think I could grow stronger than I already was, but, as it is tradition in Lobotomy Corporation, everything is carefully accounted for and controlled. Even our growth.
Except for me. I was one of those happy little accidents that messes with the rules!
After some time working with the abnormalities, I realized how odd things became for me. Before attaining my own enlightening, I was able to see weird blurry ghosts around the Sephirahs and Zero. After I exited my own Well, those ghosts became much more clear… and I began seeing some other spirits… around the abnormalities. Just like I once was turned into an abnormality, my senior abnormalities used to be humans as well.
One Sin used to be a humble priest that took part in the old research team's experiments. Spider Bud was a kid who used to play with spiders. The magic girls were former employees that endured many calamities. The Jester of Nihil… their ghost was still blurry because it blended with the old shape of Zero. If only they dived deep into their own mind, they might clear the impurities and separate the two of them. How cool would it be if Zero was to conquer the void? I… would appreciate it to have my pupil back.
Moving on. A new abnormality joined Record Department. O-03-93 was an amalgamation of gray legs protruding from a glowing heart of blue borders and pitch-black center. One, two, three, four… … … … … Twenty-four legs in total. Why legs? Is it a fetish?
I seated in front of the abnormality, pen in hand.
It looks like a shrine. The Blue Star is so pitch black that it resembles a black hole. I… could probably get sucked in there. When I look at it, something tells me that I would reach my ultimate destination if I were to enter. The culmination of my hopes and dreams. However, I knew better than to believe an abnormality can offer something so good in exchange of nothing.
I mean… maybe it does. Maybe it really is the solution to everything and the cheers and the singing at the other side are not merely there to tempt us. Maybe… I can bear hope for this one.
Why the legs, though? Why are they not permitted in this heaven?
I raised my chin. The ghost next to Blue Star was a young girl in a wheelchair. Salvation of the soul and rejection of the legs, perhaps?
Employees with Temperance 3 or lower shouldn't work on Blue Star or they will throw themselves into the abnormality. Prudence of at least level 5 is required to properly work with this one. Otherwise, it will feel offended that it wasn't properly understood.
Employees shouldn't stay in here for periods longer than a minute. Otherwise, weird ideas will start popping inside their minds. I know some weird possibilities are surging in mine. Better skedaddle now.
I reached the happy door and exited the chamber.
Instinct and Attachment will result in entering the blue heart. Work either Insight or Repression. You must reason your way out of this chamber. Only employees of level 5 or higher are allowed to work here. –Inspector
One of the regulations of Lobotomy Corporation that was implemented after White Night was the prohibition of idolizing and/or worship of abnos. Many made the mistake to trying befriending the abnos or building a healthy relationship with them, only to be betrayed by them in the end. The Queen of Hatred has killed many employees from Central Command, Forsaken Murderer has surprised many unprepared newbies and Theresia has made too many employees insane to keep count.
A new batch of Garcia clones made it to the Record Team. For now, the survivors were One, Four, Five, Seven and Eight. Some neighboring employees and the clerks had given the Garcias a nickname. Multiple. Since identifying each member was impossible (they were clones after all), that nickname addressed them equally.
The team of black haired employees was reunited at the Main Room's operations table and were transcribing the events on small monitors into official documents. I peeked next to them. I thought Martin and the others at Information had it tough, but these poor souls didn't have it much better.
In total silence, their eyes were fixated on the monitors and their ears focused on their headphones. I grabbed Five and pulled them away from the group.
"Staying there all day will do you no good. You need to learn to manage abnormalities as well, or you will end up dying."
"That's fine. We're the same person anyway, so another me will just take our place."
Oh, no. A's toying around was producing adverse effects on them. Why did that bastard have to torment them like this? They weren't important for the Seed of Light project! If it was a poor attempt at getting back at me, A deserved all that was going to happen to him and much worse. Even if his goal was noble, I could entertain the idea of spitting on it. The end doesn't justify the process. I am a firm believer that the process matters the most.
…I shouldn't underestimate A. He never does anything without a purpose. What was his goal with Garcia? Ah. They were there to torment Hokma.
From the few interactions I had with that Sephirah, I could extract how important a person he used to be. Benjaminn, one of the Wing's founders along with Ayin and Carmen. They understood how messed up things had to become in order to break the mind enough to achieve enlightening… so a normal team of employees might not cut it with him.
I shook my head and pushed away those reflections.
"Look, Garcia. You're doing a great job, okay? I know painfully well how expendable we are as employees, so I understand your suffering. However, even if things look grim and there can be no hope in this hell, you must stick to life like a pest. There might be many of you, but who cares about them? They are you, so you have the greatest allies you could have hoped for. They care for you and you care for them. If you want Garcia to survive, you need to help yourselves. Learn and train. Do not neglect your growth. Believe it or not, we're going to need you to end this."
I wasn't really a fan of boasting big words and trying to encourage other under pretexts I didn't buy myself, but I disliked the idea of allowing them to drown in misery. Life is quite meaningless inside Lobotomy Corporation, but no one had suffered the same dilemma as Garcia. Who am I? Am I the real me? If the answer is 'no', does it even matter if I survive?
Five's eyes looked at me. A teary spark revealed their emotions.
"What should we do, then? Please, senior, tell us…"
I'm glad… They have not lost their will to live yet. Greg would give a sigh of relief. In fact, I heard them do that on my headphone. I placed my hands on their shoulders.
"Listen well, Five. We're going to go visit Neal and ask for their forgiveness for One's mistakes. You need to keep good communications with your neighbors."
"I want to bring One with us. It would be pointless if they aren't the one to apologize."
"Good point. It doesn't matter that you are the same person. Right now, you are different individuals who happen to share their origins."
"My faults are my own; theirs, theirs."
"Exactly. After that, I'll pull some strings to hook you up with the training deities of the corp: the scarecrow and the woodsman. Your virtues are too high, so they will breach a lot, but that will give you the chance to train your survival skills as well. Do not wait for the manager to order your retreat. Learn your limits and you will always know what you have to do. That's one of my old Sephirah's gems of wisdom."
"You weren't always from Extraction?"
I smiled.
"When the day is over, I will tell you all about it, okay? To you and your equals."
"We'll be thrilled."
They finally grinned. A jumpy voice in my ear.
"An employee unable of smiling needs something to smile about. Everyone loves being happy!"
You right, Kikas. You right. This hell wasn't designed for us, so there's no reason to not enjoy ourselves in the meantime.
The alarm sounded again. A Qliphoth Meltdown reached Blue Star. Five decided to share our plans with Multiple, a nickname they now liked, while I dealt with the ALEPH.
"Hmmm, hm, hmm…. Hmhmhmmmm, hm, hmhm, hm… hm, hm..."
