I stretched my back while getting some satisfying pops from the action, the rest of the day went smoothly... until butterfly man almost went crazy after Dakota, with a big pair on her, decided to try and work him and failed in a goddamn instant.
Wonder who on management thought that would be a good idea, so the firecracker ended up taking a hit to her pride and pissed off "The Funeral of Dead Butterflies", that's a long name if I ever heard one.
Right now I was in the Main Room of the Control Team staring at a stack of papers on a table next to me, I thought about it and realized that whatever code of conduct Malkuth followed could be the reason so many people died on her, so I decided to take a look over it, asking for a copy from her and getting quite the excited response in return.
Right now, Rober and the rest of the Control Team went to the Dining Hall to get their stomachs filled after a good day of work. They wanted me to go and make Pizza for them, which was met with instant denial from me, ONLY special occasions and no other time.
I grabbed the papers prepared to read them, alright then, so first page is all about how to deal with mental corruption...
Wouldn't it be easier to use white weapons on them?...
... Wait, why send newbies with abnormalities with a threat level higher than TETH?...
I- what? Sure the efficiency is there, but that strategy is basically suicide, you can't expect people to be okay with being bait while others suppress the abnormality.
... So resigning or going crazy isn't allowed, but you are basically forcing those options on them Malkuth, sure I'm used to overworking the shit out of myself but not everyone has that kind of stamina!
Not only that but I always wondered where our seniors of the Control team were, but they aren't ANY of them, to begin with, Malkuth has no seniors whatsoever since all of them died either by her high standards or the abnormalities thanks to her code of conduct.
I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath, I had some blank papers here and free time, even if management ignored my attempt at changing this frankly flawed system, but it'll certainly make me feel a little bit better.
Pen in hand, I started to write then and there, there should at least be a senior member per Department... suppression should be done not according to our firepower but rather that of the abnormalities, wonder not if we hit them hard but how hard they can hit us... don't let new employees work dangerous abnormalities...
I kept writing, it slowly made me calm down, even if the probability of this whole thing being rejected was there... I at least tried and even if it didn't work, I sure as hell will try to minimize whatever bullshit is thrown our way.
Suddenly I perked up at the metallic sound of the door opening, I glanced behind me seeing Angela... I took a deep breath and utterly CRUSHED the foreign feelings I have about her, "Miss Angela, is there anything you need from here?" I smiled lightly at her, something that I took notice of her is how hard she is always trying to keep her eyes closed, even if she from time to time opened to give me curious looks.
"Malkuth is behind schedule again, I came looking for the daily report given to the manager about employee stats and employee deaths, along with updates about the investigations she was asked to do". Her overly polite tone, that I know for a fact is forced, worried me and I don't know why.
Her eyes glanced at the papers on the table and as if she had read them from that glance alone her face formed a small frown, "While some of these changes are indeed beneficial more than half of them are wishful thinking, energy production is the priority here." Not safety, that much is obvious.
I nodded, "I can tell, but I can exactly change the way I view things, so I wrote it even if I knew a good chunk of them would be ignored, for my own peace of mind, don't you do things like these too? Try, even if you know it won't work for your own sanity." My question prompted a reaction from her, eyes locking with mine with the intensity of the sun.
"All the time, while I'm not against this course of action do not keep your hopes up, all of it could be brushed aside without even receiving a second glance." I didn't shy away from her gave, hell, I even gave her a wide smirk.
"That's fine, you already saw some of them and actually agreed with a few, so while 80% could be rejected, that means 20% wasn't and that is better than nothing." Angela paused and closed her eyes again while giving me a small nod.
I blinked at that, "Then I'll show them to the manager and put my own opinion of them." Well... I did not expect that.
The door opened again, and I saw Malkuth running towards Angela with a stack of papers on her metallic arms, "Sorry Lady Angela! I lost my pen and had to look for another one to finish today's report." There she is.
Angela nodded, "As expected, please do try to not repeat this matter again." Was that sass, or am I hearing her intention wrong?.
Malkuth was either not affected or unaware of this, "You can count on it... Oh! Trigger, you seem to be reading the Code of Conduct, seems great minds do think alike." Yeah... no.
I don't hate you Malkuth, but I'm no kiss ass, "Actually, I feel half of it isn't very effective, sure you may win a battle, but abnormalities don't stop coming, but people do, a strategy based around the fact we can beat them at all moments isn't what I would call logical, and throwing employees at them like suicide bombers doesn't seem that productive." Malkuth eye flickered for a couple of seconds before a sigh of disappointment could be heard.
"I thought you could see things the way I do, but my code of conduct has given me a 100% suppression rate along with always reaching the energy quota, I suggest that you think through your words next time." Her whole demeanor changed but sadly for her... I do think through my words.
Raising a brow, I kept a carefully neutral face while saying the next words, "A mortality rate higher than 50%, which is the bare minimum asked of you, and no senior members that could handle anything higher than a TETH. I am the first member of your department that has handled anything higher than that, you reach your energy quota because the abnormalities assigned to you are easier to handle than the norm." Malkuth took a step back as I had slapped her with the power of facts and logic, not that I felt good about that.
"Simply put... they are handing you the scraps of the work." My words are a sharpened sword, and Malkuth's argument was cut to pieces.
Angela had kept her eyes on me through the whole exchange, "Trigger has shown a good point, your code was never questioned since it brought results Malkuth, but Trigger's ideas do have merit to them." Malkuth finally reacted to all that happened.
Not in a good way, mind you.
"B-But I had given positive results from the beginning! It can't be just thrown away from ideas made on the fly with no proof to them!" The metal box sounded incredibly angry at the situation and probably at me too... no, scratch that, she is obviously angry at me too.
Angela wasn't even moved by her words, "If the decision is made it would do so, don't tell me you deluded yourself into believing your way could be the only one?" I don't think rubbing salt on the wound is helping...
Malkuth was shocked but seemingly changed back to her old ways... which was obviously a lie, "I... see, I'll wait eagerly for the results then." She left after leaving her report on the table, I stared at her back all the while.
I expected a strong reaction, but that wasn't something a stable person would do, "You noticed then?" The question from Angela made me throw her a questioning look.
"That she took that worse than expected? Yeah..." I trailed off at the end there.
Angela nodded once, "Sephirah are highly unstable when subjected with strong emotional reactions, do not worry with things beyond your control." to that I sighed and smile like a bit of an idiot.
"I thought you'd have enough pattern recognition to know that isn't my style." Angela honestly look annoyed at my answer if only for a second.
"Then I'll be on my way, have a good night Trigger."
"You too Angela."
She left with both my stack of papers and Malkuth report while I sighed and made my way towards my room, even more to worry about...