O-03-89 & Binah

During one of my breaks, I happened to listen to some interesting stuff in my ear headphone. I have the theory that this EGO gift of mine allows the user to hear something that will help them in some way or the other. It's pretty handy to have in order to sniff out information I shouldn't really know.

For example, I discovered this is not first time attempting to complete day 43.

I rested onto the green floor, above the huge Cogito tank where the Bucket was, and took off my headphone. I needed to embrace the silence in my head to find out in advance what was going to happen. The Qliphoth Deterrence was ending soon.

I stopped humming, but nothing happened.

There were explosions, screams, my own voice… and a lullaby. That was a peaceful outcome. I like music, which is why I gave Qwerty some help checking their project's progress. They want to give each department their own tune with three levels of intensity. We already had one for all the company, but a little extra personality wouldn't hurt.

A dark figure approached me.

"Do you enjoy groveling?"

"That's an ominous thing to ask, Binah. Today is your turn, isn't it?"

"Whatever do you mean?" She retorted mockingly.

"It's weird. Each time a meltdown is going to happen, I always get… a warning. A premonition, of sorts. It's like… I get advice from my past versions. To make things worse, I'm not even sure it's about my past, but all of my other instances throughout the cycles."

"You must give the manager a lot of headaches."

"Heh, true. I think this must be my first talking to you this much in all of my lifetimes… which means I have to go through your meltdown completely blind. Please, be gentle."

"Hmph."

Sometime during my rambling, my Sephirah changed. Instead of the usual squared chassis, she retrieved the humanoid shape of an armored woman in black. Her coat and her mask had golden letters that resembled the gravestones' epitaphs.


A dark fog surrounded me. I considered allow things to happen… but that might have been exactly what my past self did, so it was my turn to move out of the way to dodge the tendril of black damage that tried to impale my chest.

"Come on, Binah! I am your best employee here! The others are too afflicted by the horrors of the Well to give you any conversation, so you should hold me in greater esteem than that."

The fog returned to her, disappearing under her feet.

I've been meaning to kill you since Malkuth sent you here, [DATA EXPUNGED].

"A's orders, perhaps?"

No. I can't stand your presence. This place is my personal purgatory. I am meant to suffer and experience a pain that breaks me again and again. You are an intruder that disrupts my torment. Heed my words, Fairies.

Binah raised her arm and unleased a flurry of White damage swipes across the room. My already winded teammates couldn't resist it anymore and started murdering each other. As per usual, me losing my sanity doesn't change that much, so I just stuck my headphone back in place to recover my SP bit by bit.

It seems this body of mine can also use these powers. Interesting, yet tenuous. I won't allow you to stand in my way any longer. I want A to be the one to oppose me... to slay An Arbiter.

"First a color, now An Arbiter? Lobotomy Corporation really is like a box of chocolates. What is next? A Taboo Hunter? A Thumb capo?"

Resonate.

A distant sound of alarms gave me a horrible feeling. The last Extraction member alive tried to hit the back of my head… and succeeded. I was too distracted by the menacing Sephirah. A second hit landed on my head. If more like those kept coming, I might not make it out alive. I pushed Lucky aside and pointed my magic staff at them.

I didn't really enjoy doing what I was about to do, but I had no White damaging weapon on me, so Russian Roulette it was.

Shot after shot, I tested Lucky's luck. Usually, five White shots and a couple of Black shots did the trick with an employee of their level.

Six single Pale stars ended their life. Woops! Better luck next reset!

Condensing the Key.

A black pillar crushed me from behind and squished me against the elevator's doors. I had to turn upside down or I would have drowned on my blood. I barely held onto life. The Arbiter approached me slowly. The steps of her metallic boots resonated through the blood-painted room.

I envy you.

I coughed my confusion as she prepared to unleash her Fairies again.

A conveniently timed healing pulse spread through the room and helped me regain control of my body. I rolled backwards and slammed my hand against the button to the elevator.

Binah cancelled her attack and jumped in.

The elevator music made the ride a little awkward.

"So… How was your day? Mine has been horrible so far. I forgot to have breakfast… I murderer a colleague… a crazy lady is trying to murder my face and extinguish the flame of my life because she envies me or something, can you believe that? I mean, she's an ARBITER! What could I possibly have that she doesn't?"

She pointed a finger at me. I stepped back, scared that she might attempt to gorge out the contents of my black eye sockets. The white dots in there were my actual eyes, after all. Gregory studied them in depth after I lost myself an arm.

Enlightenment.

That explained why her core was melting down. Like the old me, she longed to grasp the light in her mind with her own two hands, without the need of any Bucket.

"I… might have bad news for you, miss Arbiter."

Ding!

"Oh, hi there, Qwerty! My boss is having her meltdown now, so we're kinda screwed."

Behind them, Izzy and our best fighters readied their weapons. A couple Garcias were there too. The blonde veteran nodded.

"We know. The manager gave us today's orders."

The Arbiter grabbed me from the neck and threw me at my coworkers like a sack of grain. Then, she elevated her arm and conjured a blueish horizontal pillar.

Ope- …The sandman calls me. I'm fading.

"The time is now! Charge! Do not allow her any rest!" Discipline's captain commanded.

The Arbiter was surrounded by a flurry of attacks in every direction. If there was an angle, there was an EGO weapon moving towards her. I actually envied her a little. I mean, how cool must it be to be considered a dangerous raid target? I don't think I will ever be strong enough to be require such a harsh opposition.

"Inspector!" Martin's voice sounded through the speakers. "Binah sends Qliphoth Meltdown to the abnormalities' chambers! As long as we don't take care of them, fighting her is useless! Please, help us coordinate the lower layers!"

"Roger that! Good luck with my boss, sibling of mine. Be careful with the pillars and the Fairies she summons. Those deal random types of damage. If black fog surrounds you, dodge the stabbing sticks that come out from them!"

"Thanks for the tip!"

Binah didn't wish to fight me. Her focus was the manager. I… could respect her wish and move out of the way. I shall do my task. Work with abnormalities. Produce energy. Nothing more, nothing less.

Multiple came rushing to meet me as I headed to Central Command. They were deadly pale. A special meltdown occurred at the new abnormality, the one with blocked window. According to the report, its aspect was so nightmare-inducing that if the manager were to see even a glimpse of it, we would have to kill him. That didn't sound so bad, but we were too late in the game to give up the cycle, so I headed to O-03-89's unit without complaining further.


Oh, boy. This one was another ALEPH. Did I die here last time, maybe? The windows to the chamber were sealed. Nobody could check the abnormality from outside. The risk of them going insane was too high, apparently.

"Hey, don't worry, Five. I'll be okay. Worst case scenario, I'll leave an arm or two behind. No biggie."

"That's no joke." They grunted, looking at my prosthesis.

"Well… You Garcias should leave the department. If this ALEPH breaches, the manager will probably call the Rabbit Team to deal with it. He can't allow himself to divide his attention with Binah going crazy at Central Command."

Multiple exchanged looks between themselves. One of the newbies stepped forward.

"I'll stay here. I am less trained that the others, but I can work The Burrowing Haven by myself. Between the Inspector and me, we'll manage the Record Department!"

"Then we'll head to Extraction and deal with their abnormalities and their Qliphoth Meltdowns. We leave Nine in your care, Inspector. Treat us well."

"Sure. I'll do my best to keep you safe."

Thankfully, Multiple and me knew the reality of things. I… I am a famous employee. The first one. The survivor. I outlived my generation and I would find a way to outlast the rest. Nonetheless, I am only a single person. Even if I set my mind to protecting someone, there's little I can do on my own.

A normal team may overestimate my possibilities, but Multiple was different. If Five learnt something, the others would too. If the newbie had a tough time adapting, the Garcias would unite and push them up to their level. Nine may be their youngest, but they gave off the same fearless determination as Five.

Grinning, I reminded Nine not to enter any ALEPH chamber in my absence. Four understood quite well the danger of Blue Star, so I trusted Nine wouldn't underestimate the temptation to become a star.

Now, now. The manager's cursor bugged me for a while, demanding me to cut the chat and solve the Meltdown of O-03-89.

"Hell-"

Oh, god! That… thing. Words fail to describe it. Where should I even start? Hmm… Those [CENSORED]… disturbed me. The [CENSORED] of [CENSORED], so I moved out of the way when [CENSORED]. [CENSORED]. Honestly, I don't really want to have anything to do with that thing. Just imagine what its EGO gift would do to your [CENSORED]. Ugh! Yup, no way I'm [CENSORED].

"Well, what do I do with [CENSORED]?"

Anything but Instinct, please. I mean, I could [CENSORED] and O-03-89 would [CENSORED], but that would [CENSORED]. I've broken in a lot of ways during my time as an employee, but I… Yeah. I'm not doing that. A will have to come here and force me [CENSORED] himself.

Repression… would end poorly. Oh, [CENSORED] just exited [CENSORED] One of the [CENSORED], perhaps?. Now it's [CENSORED] the [CENSORED]. Ugh, I better not get on this one's bad side. Only a panicking employee would attempt to repress this thing. It would [CENSORED] and then [CENSORED]. Just thinking about that makes me want to puke. I'm not joking here. I've consumed a soup of myself and some other nasty things, but this would be much much worse than that.

Attachment… another dangerous thing to engage with [CENSORED]. I don't want to get close to that tower of [CENSORED], nor do I want to touch the [CENSORED] that [CENSORED] like branches of a tree.

Ugh. Lucky me, I had nothing to vomit. Today was a good day to skip on my breakfast.

On the bright side, just looking at [CENSORED] made me realize how happy I was before entering the containment unit. Oddly enough, it filled me with hope. I'm going to [CENSORED] this [CENSORED] good and be done with it. After that, anything, ANYTHING, won't be as terrible as what I'm about to do.

I contained the urge to shake [CENSORED] off, but I had to be polite with the little [CENSORED]. [CENSORED] might get angry.

I [CENSORED]. [CENSORED]. [CENSORED]. [CENSORED]. [CENSORED]. [CENSORED].

A happy green face announced a new the end of my misery and the beginning of a new stage of my life.

"Bad news, Inspector. Another Meltdown has selected [CENSORED]."

Nine shrunk and trembled at the way I reacted. Gods… I felt so furious I could have gone back to Binah and slapped her until she begged me to stop. Muddy tears fell down my cheeks.

"Fucking hell…"

[CENSORED] is all about [CENSORED].

Instinct, Insight or Attachment. Choose your poison. I hated Insight, but I don't think the others will be that much better…

Multiple is forbidden from working here. The entire Record Team would perish.

Who… Who should I even recommend to enter this chamber…? I don't want any of you to [CENSORED]… Damn.

[CENSORED]. Sacrifice someone to [CENSRED] if the alternative seems much worse. –Inspector

On a good note, my best friends are dead! They won't have to go through this! I… I would need to have a long conversation with the captains and prepared them for [CENSORED]. That is, if Binah doesn't kill them first.

…why am I complaining so much? I have my light. The others will have it much worse than me. All I had to do was sticking my ear headphone back on and my soul would find a home. The things I witnessed, both good and bad, helped me remember who I was and what I was meant to do. A compass, of sorts. One that always points to what will make you the happiest.

"The hand is approaching! It's like a wave!"

That employee whose voice I couldn't recognize through my headphone was right. A wave of black shark tips approached me from the other end of the hallway, blocking the way to the department's Main Room.

I didn't move.

When Nine left The Burrowing Haven's chamber backwards, never breaking eye contact with the abnormality, I closed the door, grabbed them by the suit and rushed towards the dead-end of the hallway.

"Close your eyes, Nine!"

"Wha-"

"Just do it! If you want to live!"

I forced open the gate to Carmen's chambers. The black wave disappeared before the door. A round cursor approached us. I shook Nine around to help them dodge the execution bullet.

"Fuck you, A! Leave Nine alone! The secret is safe!"

The cursor moved away. They didn't exactly have the time to waste worrying about us. Binah was trying to do something that shook the entire facility.

A hand was pressed over Nine's head, stripping them of their conscience and their recent memories. I frowned at Angela.

"Was that really necessary?"

Her eyes remained closed as she shrugged.

"Back to you. The manager got tired of addressing employees by names and decided to turn the Record Team into a group of Garcias. Why did you risk the secret for an expendable without uniqueness like that?"

"Do you need to ask?" I grinned. "The optimal solution is always focusing on producing energy without losing employees. We need Nine to keep pumping The Burrowing Haven for energy."

Angela turned her back to us and gazed at the tank where the nerve angel floated.

"At this point, that's not really necessary anymore. We saved up enough LOB points to reach the end. Besides, Binah's meltdown doesn't require the production of energy. Just defeating her is enough to finish the day."

I frowned and carried my partner on my shoulder.

"I want to save Nine because I felt like it." I confessed.

The AI twitched.

"I hate the things you do, Angela, but I understand why you do them. I'm looking forward to the day we get to actually meet each other."

"I gave up thinking about the future. Like a script, my path is prewritten." Her chin lowered. "I just hope the ending is worth of everything."

I opened my mouth to mutter 'me too', but that would have been cruel. Nobody looked forward to day 50 more than Angela, the lead role of the devil's puppet show.

I suppressed the scarecrow who attempted to suck my brains out and visited WhiteNight in Neal's stead.

Heh… It's funny. That day was one of the worsts of my life, but it seemed to mean almost nothing when compared to Angela's ordeal.

"Let's do our best, [DATA EXPUNGED]. For Malkuth."

"No, Ek. I'll do much more."

"Don't try to take care of everything by yourself. You have us."

"I will take care of everything because I have you, Greg."

"Just don't do anything too crazy. And for the hundredth time, put some effort into your reports!"

"I have no talent for reports, Lin. At least I found something to do with this life of mine."

"Are you happy?"

"I am, Kikas. However, greed found its way into my heart and now I am not satisfied with only obtaining my light."

A clown teleported out of nowhere next to the fainted Nine and me.

"We have work to do, [DATA EXPUNGED]."

There was something different in my pupil's eyes: a glint… of hope.

"I'll lead the way, Zero."

A pulse expanded throughout Lobotomy Corporation.

You've proven yourself. I shall witness you with my eyes.

You're not alone, Binah. All of us are witnessing the manager's actions. We work, we die and we reset for him.

However, there was somebody else in this Wing who deserved our attention…