Part 36: Day 17 - Gameplay Again
Day 17: Gameplay AgainMusic: neutral 2
No changes. The issue was with our execution, not our planning.
Let's all do our best today!
Hey, since the day's starting with Mizu working the new guy, I'm gonna go call Bishop.
Oh? I can call him-I'm taking over as captain, after all. Would you? Let him know to review the handbook for type-B emergency protocols. We got a feedback about him not following policy yesterday. We did?! I must have missed it- No biggie, I already filed it.
I hope it's soon… I wouldn't mind a pay raise.
Hold on-getting a call. Hello? Hi, Bishop? Medea, from the Training team. Yeah, I've seen you around. What's up? We received feedback about your team yesterday. You didn't respond to a type-B emergency with the right protocol. Could you give the rules a once-over today, when you get the chance? Type-B..? Oh, that. The bees died in the same corridor they spawned in, there wasn't any reason to evacuate the newbies. Still, try to keep the policy in mind, okay? Right, got it. 
You're a cute li'l footguy with legs for days~ Gonna get your information and learn allayour ways~
That never stops being creepy.
X, will you be sending Zeta21 to the Queen Bee again? Huh? Oh, yeah. No reason not to. 
Wow… You really don't move, do you? I expected more out of a WAW.
All done working with Knight of Despair. Boksi, she's all yours.
Of course. I'm sure she'll be able to properly appreciate a member of the upper-crust coming to visit.
Hey, asshole. If you're so 'upper-crust,' why the hell are you here working a job the same as any of us? I'd explain it, but someone at your level simply wouldn't be able to understand. You reek of the backstreets. I'm gonna 'reek' all over your stupid face, pompous-
Tenebrais, calm down… It doesn't matter what some guy says. Rrrgh… Fine. You're on thin ice. Oh… I'm shaking. Thank you, Credentia, for showing the girl some sense. 
Hey, boss, Queen Bee work didn't go great. Probably gonna' have spores.
Manager… Dammit, Zeta..! I'm on it.
Got eyes on three clerks. Mr.Black, Mizu, Mr.Blond, get ready to intercept. Start in the elevator, we can work back to the main room after.
Sir! Okie-dokie!
Hey! Some of this blood is mine! If you're taking too many hits, back off to the regenerator and hold for more orders.
It was no trouble! We were able to clear the elevator! HAHAHAHA! Good job, team. Return to the main room.
Hah. Stupid bees. Not so tough now, are you?
STILL TOUGH! THEY'RE STILL TOUGH! 
What the- again?! It appears our initial response was slightly too slow. The bees escaped the elevator we planned to use to quarantine them.
And just like that, they're all going to die… again. Not this time! Mr.Black, Mr.Blond, get back in there!
No problem, boss!
Once again a single bee escaped due to a miscalculation on my part. Unlike last time, this time around I pause and very carefully take stock of the entire situation. There's nothing near Central this time, and the only bees around are near the bottom. Just to be sure, I also unpause, wait a second, and pause again-sometimes Abnormalities can be stuck in door transitions, and I didn't want to lose another day to missing something. Luckily, it's just the bees down there in lower Information.
Training Team? Yes sir? End them. Yes sir!
You're not going any further! Hey, they're all ignoring us to go for Boksi! Oh no, they can smell my pedigree!
Phew. Splendid work, everyone. I wonder why they went after me..? Maybe that backstreets stench counts as bug repellant. Ah, you might just be right..! Do you bottle it? This guy… 
Tenebrais, just breathe. In, out.
One more full scan… nothing. We've cleared out all the bees! Does that mean I can go back to sleep? I'd rather you stayed awake today, actualaaand he's offline. 
Now that that's done, back to work on getting all of Blue Star's information figured out. When we retry it resets everything we've done so far that day-so we had to re-unlock its name.
Amber Dawn.
I'll take these over those damn bees any day. Same, sir.
Talow's busy… Credentia! Elevator!
Can you aim a little lower? I've got a kink in my shoulder from the fighting earlier… Ah, that's it! Good birdie.
Amber Done.
Don't you have a body? Or… wait, are you a hologram? We've never talked outside of the monitor, so I never really was clear on that. I have a body, the same as the Sephirot. The main difference is that I am significantly more advanced than any of them. You all look the same to me… Did you say something, X? Yeah. We need to get back to work on figuring out Blue Star. ...Of course, sir.
I want to work with the Knight. Um… what? I want to work with Knight of Despair. If that posh idiot can do it, I can do it too. Your suit is weak to White damage… and TETH level. Um… this is dangerous! Don't care. Doing it. Um..!For some reason I decide to have Tenebrais start working with KoD, alternating between her and Boksi. This definitely won't end badly.
All departments, we're reading a Crimson Noon for the next meltdown. Beware of clowns.I send Mr.Blond to deal with You Must Be Happy, and promptly forget to stop running it until I happen to pause later. This is also probably fine.
Well hey there, Talow. What're you doing here? You're a newbie working with a powerful White damage Abnormality. You already know what I'm doing here.It's at this point that I try to set up another work with Queen Bee and notice Mr.Blond has only 20 HP.
Yeah… We need to fix that. I'm not sure if having a stat penalty of over 200 points will kill an agent the same way as having a buff will, but even if it wouldn't we need to buff him up to survive a possible Queen Bee pollen again.
Here's hoping this goes better than the last time…
It does. Since Mr.Blond is now able to work Blue Star successfully, I toss him into the rotation as well. Since his base stats are only level 3, he'll gain stats like they're level 3 despite the bonus. This is actually hilariously abusable and I'll have to keep it in mind for later.
My my, you're trying to draw me in aren't you? Too bad! It seems I'm simply too observant to fall for that! You won't be getting a leg up on me, HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Work proceeds without issue, hindered by me being unwilling to work with Blue Star once it's hit -12%.
Oh hey, I found the Noon. Let's watch it kill a few clerks. Manager! I'm kidding, geez. Talow's already on his way.
Go with the flow of the body… 
And the mind!Talow does several of the multi-stab attacks in a row, basically shredding the Noon.
Standard procedure when the Noon is dead, pause and zoom out to find all the Dawns to have them taken care of.
Pictured: The reason Crimson becomes the most dangerous Dawn type later on. No matter how pathetic they are, if they release an ALEPH it can absolutely mess us up.
They do not release an ALEPH to absolutely mess us up.
Again, huh...
Birdie, have you ever thought about becoming a masseuse? This is actually really nice.
Slow day, huh? I've only had to work with Rudolta once. 
Slow for us. Zeta21's been working with that bee all day, and Twee there's been working Instinct with Laetitia so much her hat's fallen off.
No it ha--OH GOSH! My hat! Where'd it go?! I have to go find it! Have fun, kiddo.A graphical glitch here: Twee's hat has just vanished. This just happens sometimes… like I've said before, the coding of this game is a little off in places.
Another Normal on Queen Bee fires off 3 more infections into the Safety team, but it hits the Agents so everything is fine. Phew!
Huh. That does burn! Isn't it incredible? Haha! It is! I'm surrounded by idiots…The damage after the pollen is about half of their health now. Not bad.
Again?! I'll send someone to- Manager, it's not Punishing Bird this time!Mission failed. Maybe next time I shouldn't throw an Agent at a higher level Abnormality with a damage type they're weak to.
Stupid goddamn knight doesn't know the first damn thing about what she's talking about! Oh my god..! Who's done this to you, Miss Tenebrais?! Who shall I slay as pennance?! 
...Angela, remind me to send a memo about agent fan clubs. This seems to be getting a bit out of hand.
Shut the hell up and get out of my way! Where is that posh bastard I'm gonna take this anger out on his stupid face! ...Of course, X.
Talow?! Out of my way! Tenebrais, your mental corruption's too high. I have to knock some sense back into you. I'm fine! You don't even know what happened!
Alright then, what happened this time? I was working with that damned knight, and while we're talking she just up and says, out of nowhere, "Where's Boksi? I'd prefer if he were here." That useless, pretentious, newbie! Well, obviously.
What do you mean, 'obviously?!' Knight of Despair is an Abnormality made of despair from failing to protect others. Her entire existence is protecting the weak. So if she wanted Boksi around… ...Oh my god.
I knew I was better than that mossheaded moron. There ya' go. Let's get back to it. That. Was. Awesome!!!!
Hey, Tenebrais. You all done with your little tantrum? Yyyyyep. Great. I just wanted to show you this new gift. The Knight of Despair saw fit to grant me a portion of her power, because of my obviously superior upbringing. Y'know what, Boksi? That's good for you. I'm sure you'll need all the help you can get around here. I'm so glad the two of you are finally starting to get along! But… you did go over the corruption limits. You know what that means, right? No..?
...I hate this job. 
Meanwhile, we've finally (at Meltdown level 6!) managed to unlock all of Blue Star's information, which will allow us to start towards getting its gear. The suit costs 150 PE boxes to buy, and the weapon is another 222 on top of that. As a reminder, we've already had to spend 142 to get this far. ALEPH stuff is hard to buy, but it's worth the price. Just look at those numbers!
Scarecrow's out, Manager! Training Team's already on it. You poor thing. We'll put you back to sleep soon.
...This is getting a little bit out of control. The more cells we have, the broader the effects of the meltdowns will reach. Ugh. At least this place can't get much bigger.Zeta21's HP are a bit too low to work with Queen Bee, so to be safe I throw Medea over at her when setting up all the works.
In other news, I found a new way to make my life difficult. This is now a completely luck-based tool.
Every time, this machine is so silly…
There's no way I'd ever be unhappy! 
Phew. That's one crisis averted. Manager… Tell Hod I'll get to Punishing Bird in a minute. It's not that, Manager. Then what is it?
1.76 MHz is about to suffer a critical meltdown. Great. Wonderful. Good to know we're back in familiar territory.
Punishing Bird can wait. Malkuth, get Bishop on the radio.
Yes, Manager! He should be able to handle it without issue.
There's a whole room full of people. Why is it going after me? I told it you needed a good back massage..? Credentia… You don't like it?
Meanwhile we've finally gotten our hands on Blue Star's E.G.O suit, which will be incredibly helpful in the coming days.
Shall we continue until we get the weapon, X? No… I don't think so. Today's been long enough. Yes, sir.
zzz... Oh, it's time to quit already? Cool! He's just snoring. How could you tell? He rolled in front of the door to the Enkephalin cabinet. Aha! He's protecting it, I see.
Oh hey, Tenebrais, where were you?. Is that Knight of Despair's gift? Close enough. I grabbed a bottle of tears while we were doing Attachment work before and used an old Backstreets trick to tattoo this thing on my face with 'em. That sounds incredibly dangerous..! Probably. Don't care.
That's the coolest thing I have ever heard. Hey guys, I'm gonna be back in a few.
Hey boss? While we're boxing things up… was it really necessary to evac during that thing with the bees earlier? Bishop pointed out that the policy for type-B emergencies had been updated, so it's our job to follow it perfectly! I'm really proud of how diligently he always goes through the codes to track this stuff down bee-fore there's a problem! You actually read all this stuff? No, but if I told her someone filed a complaint, she'd blow a fuse... Good point.
Ah… how much longer until Reunion?
So everyone made it out okay. Great. Just gotta get up and do it again tomorrow. 
Alright, pack it in everyone! Time to call it a day. There's a lot of 100s starting to crop up across the facility. We'll probably see our first couple maxed out Agents tomorrow.
Music: never frozen bottom flows
T-09-97: Those betrayed hearts sank into the depths, slowly forgotten in the ever-lengthening corridors of time.
T-09-85: Now everything will be just fine.
T-09-78: The final chapter ends with the phrase: "Born again."
We've talked about two of these before, so I'll summarize again: -85 is a trap option, and -78 is situational and can blow people up. That leaves -97, which is a highly situational tool that can permanently destroy our E.G.O weapons if it feels like it. This sounds bad, but it might theoretically come in handy at one point about 20 days from now.
We take that one, of course. It says a lot about Tool Abnormalities that 'Might maybe come in handy 20 days down the line' is a convincing selling point.
Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Another message from B.
New Guidelines
Blue Star
New Gear
Requirements: Level 5, Prudence 5, Temperance 5
New Story
Blue Star