Part 46: Day 22 - Gameplay

Day 22: Gameplay

Music: neutral 3



Shuffling around gear, Control gets our new 3 HE suits, and Talow gets our new ALEPH wear. Tylana gets the Knight gear, since it's important to have someone who can deal with Pale damage in the bird's department.

New Abnormalities to work, and a work limit to do it in. Should be a nice breather.

Ugh! Don't get careless, manager.





You guys had better not screw up!

Just don't do anything dangerous.



Hmmmmmhhh…

Huh?

Heey, Twee… Have you noticed anything… ooff?

Come to think of it… Yeah! I did notice something odd! Somehow, a raven managed to work its way into one of the break rooms. It's gotta' be an omen of something!

Thaat's not quite what I meant, but it sounds iinteresting… Go oon..?

You know she thinks you're an alien, right?

Does she?

Yeah, for some weird reason.

Huh… I see…

You're gonna mess with her, aren't you?

Probably.



Orders from the top, everyone! It looks like we're finally getting back in business. Omni, you'll be with Laetitia... in Information. Chinely, you'll be doing Fortitude work in Safety… with... Queen... Bee, and Bishop, you're going to be in Central… Working with All-Around Helper..?

Um… are you okay?

......I'm fine! As always, I expect everyone to do their job perfectly! That's all!

No need to worry.

Chinely and I have been working hard to become the ideal agents!

<sub>They're posing again…

It seems to fire them up. I just go with it.</sub>



...Looking at this thing gives me some kind of strange, unbridled rage in my gut.

What? That's dumb! It's just an Abnormality, work it like one.

Right… Let's get to it.



Oooh you're a cutie-pie and you're o-kay, you've got an axe and it's sharp to-day~



Work went great! It didn't seem to move at first, but after I petted it a couple of times it started kind of bobbing and made a lot of energy.

See? It was just fine, manager! We can get Seyser to work it from now on.

And there goes my hair. That's not ominous at all!

I guess so...

Tylana, you remember the procedure for getting a new Abnormality, right?

Oh, yes. Manager, do we have the PE boxes to get its basic information yet?

Sure, let me just grab it.



Okay, so it's named Warm-Hearted Woodsman. Now let's just queue up the next work…



What.

What.

Oh, that explains your hair.

It does! I was about to who-knows-what.

With all due respect, sir, I don't think we should continue working it. This Abnormality seems to respond to high levels of Temperance with outright hostility-we don't know what would happen if someone were to go in there right now

Oooh… Was I too awesome?

I guess you could put it that way, sure.

But… it's been one work! This is bull!

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you all to Warm-Hearted Woodsman. Woodsman is an Abnormality that is much like Scarecrow, but worse. Like Scarecrow, it's keyed to a specific stat-in this case Temperance, and it wants to see it at 2 or lower. When we work it with someone that has a Temperance level of 3 or higher, its QC decreases. Unlike Scarecrow, however, it doesn't immediately breach. Instead, it's a trap-it lies in wait for the next person who enters and instantly kills them before breaching. This can be avoided by just not working it, but that isn't always an option-meaning we basically have to keep around an Agent with terrible Temperance or risk being stuck with a meltdown we can't work. On the upside, it'll never breach from a meltdown alone-remember that all they can do is set an Abnormality's QC to 0. Annoyingly, this means we're done with it for today.

It would be possible to send an agent in, sacrifice them, and continue working. Omni's Temperance is at the level that could safely work with the creature.

We're not sacrificing people. Except for clerks.

…

And only if we have to?

Let's move on. There's a second Abnormality to work with.



Oh right, the tool. Let's see if we can figure it out at least.

Talow! Get to work!



Ghh..! This thing feels like it weighs a ton..!



After the first work, a number appears. Each additional work gives it another number, until the tool is full. At that point…



This image starts flashing over the tool, and it's primed and ready to do… something.



Our information's still incomplete, sir.

Better hold off, then.

When fully charged, Backwards Clock basically trades a level 5 Agent for a get out of jail free card. It clears meltdowns and suppresses almost any breaching Ordeal or Abnormality, which will solve a number of problems. Since we will hopefully never be in a situation where we need to get out of jail free, all this really does for us is serve as a meltdown eater-as explained earlier, if a meltdown would land on it then it's instantly cleared and we just have one less to deal with.



Um… sir, Scarecrow is having a meltdown!

Since it'll escape in either case, let's have Sephiroth and Medea handle it-

Also, Punishing Bird has breached!



Ow. Ow. I got it. Ow.



It's strange… if it simply turned around and struck at the clerks, it would be able to heal itself. However, it sees fit to continue to strike at me, a 1st class SOLDIER, instead-even though its defeat is inevitable..

Well, it is just searching for wisdom, after all.

Ugggh...

X, it appears that she has made a pun. They are meant to be humorous.

That you think that just shows you've got a long way to go to understand humans.



I know that we're supposed to be feeding you, but I was never really clear on which mouth I was supposed to put the food into. Is it this one?



...It wasn't that one.

I can see that, Netzach, thank y-what are you doing awake?

New kid working the bee. Would rather stay up 'til all the clerks die since the noise makes it impossible to sleep.

I… see. Well, glad to have you for once.



Don't worry, Miss Tenebrais! I'll protect you!

You moron, if you do that-





And now there's two of them. Of course.

Miss Tene-

Stay. The hell. Behind me.

_{Yes ma'am.}



Infestation's handled up here, boss. Heading back home.

Right.

She saw what happened to the last guy, and decided to protect me. I'd heard the stories, but she really is just as compassionate as they all say!



Violet Dawn, and with it a good chance to show off Talow's new gear. The Justita sword says it hits for 2-4 Pale damage, which definitely doesn't seem very ALEPH-y.



Like riding a bike.

It does not mention that it hits 5 times per swing.



Nor that it has a special attack with 3 stronger hits, and then 6 more normal hits at the end. Justita is really good.



Violet Dawns really aren't a threat, and never have been.



Good job out there, Talow. You make that new gear really sing.

We just get along. It's odd, though-we're not really a weapons company, so I don't see why the new gear needs a demonstration like that.

Oh, I asked a while ago. The manager said he wants to know the capabilities of each of our more powerful weapons.

In other words, he's an idiot who can't get it without seeing it in action!

I'm right here, you know.

Well, maybe if you wouldn't let things break out of containment I wouldn't have to call you an idiot.

Central's been quiet all day to-



Et tu, Tiphereth?

Sorry, manager… It's my turn to announce escapes today.

Like I said earlier, All-Around Helper is volatile, and just escapes sometimes when being used for training since its Good threshold is rather high and its QC can lower on a normal.



With two ALEPH-geared agents right next door, though, an escape isn't going to accomplish much.



Talow.

Bishop. When'd you get here?

Been here all day. Still not dead.

That's always good. Drinks later?

Stop being so congenial. It's creepy.

Why? Just because you're doomed doesn't mean I don't like you.

...you are infuriating.

Yeah, I get that a lot.



So, Mr. Bird, do you have any hobbies? Likes? Dislikes? ...Friends? I've heard you know Punishing Bird. If you judge and he punishes, do you have another friend who's a jury? ...Come on, say something!

Tylana, the administrative team reminds you that Judgment Bird cannot speak.

Oh. That... would explain the bandages on its face. But what if it can speak, and just won't?

...In the event that Judgment Bird does speak, we urge you to please disregard its advice.

Not to break up this party, but we have more bees.



I'd like these things more if they wouldn't drop in on top of us all the time.

At least they're not really a threat. Just a little out there.

Where's that unpleasant woman, anyways?

She saw one of the infected clerks leaving, so she went after them alone.

HAHAHA, how dangerous!



Yep. I sure did have Tenebrais go solo a bee while she was infected with the Queen's spores. This was careless.



Heh. Still can't hold a candle to me.

Tenebrais, my readings show you're nearly, uh, dead. Maybe-

It'll heal.



Noon is here! It's landed in Central Command!

In that case, we should have Talow do a second demonstration.

Is it really worth the risk?



I'd say there's not much of a risk, wouldn't you?

Ah, as expected of you, manager!



Mustn't let these happy boys open that door, nosir! We wouldn't want Blue Star to escape!

We sure wouldn't.

Hey, don't look at me!





The greatest contemplation is born from suffering the slightest adversity during thought.



You seem down, X. Normally you would be chuckling at his pain.

Of course I'm down. We've got two new Abnormalities, and I can't touch either of them. I got names, but no information, and no gear. We'll have to make up for it tomorrow.



There is always the option of facing another Green Dusk, should you prefer.

Nah, let's not. Last time was a slog and a half.

A sound decision.

Dusks make for an ideal stopping point right now-our gear isn't really built to deal with them quickly, and since our missions cut us off around here anyways we might as well stop.



Noiser today than usual.

It's because we've had fewer deaths, so the clerks are around to talk more!

It is all mother's providence raining upon the land, preparing for the harvest.

Regardless, it is a good thing to have fewer deaths.



The manager's calling for the day to end before I even got to take a nap… What a waste.

Isn't it a bit early for the day to end? We still have clerks.

At least they bring me cake. What good have you been lately, mosshead?

Hey! I take care of my share of the suppression work, and do the paperwork you illiterates can't handle. _{They never bring me cake, either.}



I've got the files on the new Abnormalities!

That's... two sheets of paper.

There wasn't much.

Even then, make sure you file them properly.

Let's get packed up quickly. I need to phone home after this.

Phone hoome, you saay..?

Talk later, we still have boxes to move.



Oh hey Bishop, been forever!

Hey, Mizu. Have you noticed Talow acting weird lately?

Nope! Everyone seems just fine to me!

Is something the matter?

Nah. I'm just thinking about something.

Oooh… you're worried because you got yelled at, huh?

What?

I worry about that too sometimes! Tiphereth's always yelling, but it's fine because Tiphereth is usually really nice!

Um… when you put it like that, it's hard to tell who you mean.

Hey! Shouldn't you be getting back to Control? We've got cleanup to do around here!

There's no rush. I'm sure he can pitch in, too.

It's not nearly as complicated as you'd think, honestly.



Boss, we're back.

Oh, are you? It's about time!

Let's get packed up. What do you need, boss?

Nothing. You weren't around, so I already took care of it all perfectly!

In that case, can we go?

No reason to stick around if there's no work, right?

...Right! I expect a good hard day's work out of you tomorrow!



Hmph. You pass, I guess.

Great job today, sir.



Congratulations to Bishop, D.A.D., Kaori, and Tylana for joining the maxout club. Everyone else is in the 80s-90s on most of their stats, I think the lowest in the entire facility is a 50 in Prudence on Omni. At this point, overtraining is an issue when we go for maxing out what's left on our Agents-it's hard to eyeball how many works to do without doing a lot of math and that's…

Music: never frozen bottom flows


T-01-31: From break and ruin, the most beautiful performance begins.
O-06-20: And the many shells cried out one word, "Manager."
O-05-102: "Now you become the sky, and I, the land."

We'll start with the easy one, -31 is an ALEPH with some very dapper gear, but a really annoying working ruleset that leaves it very prone to breaching, which we either couldn't or could only barely deal with as our facility stands right now-it'd be a little close. Next is -20, another ALEPH. This one has a couple of interesting mechanics when it breaches, but is mostly a huge source of Red damage in its cell. Its gear is mechanically amazing, and I'd love to add it to our facility, but it's a hard choice because of our next Abnormality. That would be -102, a WAW level Abnormality which is… special. It possesses the best Helmet-slot gift in the game, provides 2 WAW weapons and 2 WAW suits, serviceably trains 3 stats and its existence will allow us to try our hand at shenanigans in the future. On the downside, picking it forces us into a predestined choice in the future. I'd really like both -20 and -102 right now, so this is a hard choice.



In the end, the possibility of shenanigans wins out over not-shenanigans.



F-04-42: The day a ripe apple fell off the tree in the garden where the princess and the king stood, the witch's heart shattered.
T-01-68: Where does one go when they die?
O-06-20: And the many shells cried out one word, "Manager."

We've seen -68 and -20, so let's talk about -42. It's a WAW-level Abnormality which trains Justice, and is very temperamental and escape-prone. It also will occasionally completely tank my framerate when it breaches, to the point where it makes the game nearly unplayable (though to be fair, when that had happened I had been playing for roughly 4-5 hours straight, it could have been memory leak related). It's perfectly serviceable, but…




Be careful what you wish for.

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Tiphereth and Tiphereth talk about old times.