POV: Manager
I mussed over the words given to me by 'B'. He really didn't give me a chance to talk back to him… he probably won't ever give me a chance to talk back to him.
Looking at the program, I hid it inside a mountain of documents. It should work by simply clicking on it and asking a question to Angela, pretty simple really.
What should I ask? For a while, I simply wondered 'If she is planning to hurt me?' or 'Will she sabotage the company?' before dismissing them. Not because of trust, but by the simple fact that whatever answer she gives me, I would simply be unable to act upon it.
I'm the Manager, sure... but Angela carries as much weight as I do. No, she carries MORE weight than I do, so there was no point in asking that.
There was one thing I was curious about, 'Who am I?' but she could avoid giving me a straight answer.
Then I remembered Yesod's warnings… to watch out for Trigger and Malkuth, that should be my question, 'Is anyone else trying to sabotage the company?' Not directed at Angela, but as a whole. This should be enough of a confirmation.
I looked up when I heard the door of my office open, "Yesod, Ryn… you seem on edge." Not that I blame them, I saw Trigger too. He is more dangerous now.
"It is an appropriate response, I hope my petition reached you again." Yesod spoke with his usual 'Factual and Logical' tone of voice that may as well be his default choice in a conversation.
Nodding at his words, I pointed at the papers on the table already approved, "Sure, I'm a bit surprised that you send one every day just to keep Trigger with his HE suit." It was a choice he made for one reason.
'To have a chance at suppressing him.' He said, and to be fair? I agree with that notion.
Yesod would even try to limit Trigger's access to weapons too, but he himself admitted that trying to work his way around Malkuth and Binah… the latter who I have no idea who they are, is impossible. So he focused his efforts on one thing only.
"Then we should address the last two developments of the day." I sighed when Ryn spoke, because King of Greed was now acting like Knight of Despair, and Trigger had gone and fused E.G.O again.
I ran a hand through my hair while sighing, "I want to say there is no issue, and technically speaking there isn't one… I doubt we can just take the fused E.G.O away without problems." Mainly from Malkuth, maybe whoever Binah was too.
"True, but that is not what Ryn is talking about, but rather of what she saw when Trigger and King of Greed decided to have a… duel in my floor." Did I hear annoyance in his voice? Expected, but a bit weird to hear it from him.
We both looked at Ryn, who fidgeted in place. Uneasiness covering her face. "You weren't there, Manager. Before the duel, Trigger wasn't just scary or angry, it was like… staring at something abnormal but normal at the same time, bizarre but comprehensible. He didn't feel human, but I KNEW he was human." She tried to explain and sounded pretty abstract. Considering her words… it seems like she met some kind of boogeyman.
Yesod continued, "I reviewed the footage, and I'll try to give a more… focused view. The way his eyes looked were a mix of Human and Bestial, yet there didn't seem to be a conflict between the two. In the City, there had been attempts of mixing human intelligence and animal brutality before, none of them worked perfectly. But Trigger seems to be a success in that regard." Now that worked a bit better, I wanted to have a closer look at that.
I opened the footage and quickly fast forwarded the video. Looking for a shot that showed his eyes clearly… cringing slightly, I had to agree with Ryn. Human but Inhuman, definitely fits the bill with that look.
"And the general plan is?" It was a… bit of a hard question. Technically, Trigger didn't do anything wrong, he 'worked' King of Greed and it 'breached'. It's not like L Corp really cared about that, and Abnormalities breaching after work weren't anything new.
We could push his work with Knight of Despair, but he hardly did anything wrong, and sending Trigger a warning for 'ignoring rules' wouldn't do a lot.
Yesod took a deep breath, "If what I have seen is right, then he didn't break any kind of rules within the corporation and with Angela giving him the clearance to work with the 'Knight', he is simply put 'clean' for anything he did." So, exactly what I just thought about.
"Then what can we do?" Ryn looked at the two of us before frowning.
"Okay, we clearly can't do a lot about that… then how about doing something with Netzach?" Yesod and I exchanged a quick look before focusing back on Ryn.
"I mean, there clearly seems to be a division happening, so it would be smarter to have more on our 'side', right?" That's… not a bad idea.
But Netzach is very much what I can describe as 'done with everything' kind of guy. Yesod sighed and looked at me, "I will take care of that, I'm the one that knows more about his situation." I nodded slowly before looking back at my monitor and seeing a message from Angela.
Huh… wonder what it is, let's see, 'Manager, blablabla some Abnormalities have been proving to be a great boon. Blablabla, a document showing the benefits of letting placated Abnormalities leave their chambers at any time has been sent-' Fuck!
I read it and I do mean READ it, trying to think of a way to keep things as they should be, but Knight of Despair has been… really helpful with no actual downsides. Aside from the fact that she barely produces Enkephalin anymore, along with Little Red Riding Hooded Mercenary and Punishing Bird, the two still made decent energy but a lot less than they should have.
Should I pull a rank...? No, that probably wouldn't work and there isn't a good argument to deny this thing, and just saying that 'It's an Abnormality' ...yeah, that isn't going to work.
Yesod approached my desk and took a quick read of the document, "I hate to say this Manager, but there isn't a way to deny that petition." I know Yesod… I know.
Ryn decided to take a look too and was… conflicted, "I shouldn't be happy about this, but I am…" Guess she would experience first hand the boons of a friendly Knight of Despair.
Sighing, I 'decided' to let this new idea through. Things are certainly getting interesting...
I looked at the drawer in my desk and… where is my beer? My eyes moved towards Yesod, who had my can of Bear Brand Beer for 'dealing with bullshit', "Manager…" He said with the tone of a disappointed parent.
Goddammit…. I'll have to get another one when he isn't looking.
POV change: Rober
"Holy sh!-" I was stopped midway from finishing my words with a fist to my face. Trigger has decided to change how he trained us.
Sure, the other's told me a bit since it was just dealing with E.G.O, the change? Well, he decided that it was of no use in a fight if you were unable to keep your head straight while letting E.G.O in.
So he just started beating me around with his fists while I was trying to get it to work!
Trigger stopped and looked at me with confusion, "Ok, something clearly is wrong, and I doubt you are not trying to let the E.G.O inside your head." He said while helping me up.
I glared at the gun tiredly, "I know something is going in, but… just doesn't, like it turns me away." Trigger stared at me for a couple of seconds before snapping his fingers.
"Compatibility. Would you say you have a prominent sense of justice?" He suddenly asked me, and while I had my own views of right and wrong, it didn't feel like they mattered a lot to me.
"Not really." I muttered and Trigger nodded.
He thought about it for a moment, "Guess Dakota isn't a fan of meaningless deaths, she is also very violent to no one's surprise. BongBong has a surprisingly big sense of right and wrong, and Beth constantly thinks she is missing something." Where the hell did that come from!?
Trigger glanced at me and chuckled, "I think that the E.G.O itself would know if there was common ground with you. In other words, if it actually went in without there being some kind of… agreement, it would end bad. For the one who wears it, of course." I glared at the gun in my hand and huffed. Well, I didn't need it anyway.
Sighing, I looked at Trigger with a frown, "Now what then? It'll be pretty pathetic if I just failed due to technicality." He looked down at me and smiled.
"Well, first we have to tell this to the others… I have a feeling Dakota and Amelia won't have a problem in that regard. That doesn't mean all is lost, you may not be able to be one with E.G.O, but that doesn't mean you can't learn a few tricks." When he said that, he looked at the dummy rabbit at the end of the hall. That thing has just been cheering for me… even if I was getting my ass handed to me.
He pointed at it, "According to Angela, he is straight up impossible to put down, so aim at it." I did as told, I do wonder why he didn't tell me to also shot.
"Now… I want you to focus on one thing and one thing only, the need to punish someone and fire." Glancing at him once, I focused on that feeling, and my aim faltered under the sudden strain of… something. Like an invisible muscle that was atrophied from lack of use, suddenly moved.
From the pistol came a trio of maws similar to those of Punishing Bird, but… their size was halved. It was also not a ranged attack, so the dummy rabbit stared at me with those blank yellow eyes in what seemed like encouragement that just made me feel embarrassed.
Trigger coughed on his arm and he stared at me, "You certainly don't need to… you look really pale." He trailed off at the end, and yes... I had to agree, I feel like I ran a marathon and had many 'muscular' pains. None of them from my actual muscles.
I was taking labored breaths too, "I… think… this… is…" Too tired to talk...
He nodded at me, and he lent me his shoulder to not fall on my ass, "Yeah, guess there is a drawback from using E.G.O like that. I think we are lucky it's TETH gear… who knows what the bigger stuff would have done to you." Well that's not something I needed to know, at least not at the moment…
Trigger was helping me move, "Alright buddy, we still did what was needed. Maybe we'll find something that suits you… after I tell Angela and Malkuth about this new finding." Yeah… you do that…
I'm going to take… a nap….
"… If you are going to fall asleep, at least let me carry you on my back. You're hanging from my shoulder like a drunk cousin."
Fuck… you… Trigger…