Part 57: Day 27 - Story

Day 27: Story

Angela, bring up the footage of Training from today. We'll have to go through it and find anything relevant.

Of course, manager. Bringing up Hod's relevant memories now.

_{(Hod previous story: 1, 2, 3, 4)}

Music: Town - Alone in a Crowd


It’s just like a light hallucination. It’ll disappear after two or three times, so don’t worry about it too much. For me, it was an employee whose face had half melted. ‘Crawled over my feet and grabbed me by the shoulders, asking me why I let her die.

That wasn’t a hallucination or anything…



You know, like, unbelievable things happen here, so maybe it is possible for dead employees to come back, as if nothing happened, right?

...I’m not in any state to say this, but you don’t look too good. Why don’t you skip today’s meeting?

I can’t do that, we have an Abnormality Response Training today… They need me to run the drill properly…



...Right? Look, Tiffany… I was right….



Music: mirror dimensions




—be focusing on Abnormality Response Training.

(“How many times do I have to tell you? You’re only a sad piece of rusty scrap metal putting on the act of being a good person.”)

Now, I want everyone to pay close attention here. The Abnormality we’ll suppress today needs to be handled a bit differently than the others.

(“If you hoped that living such a lie would ease your conscience, that’s really selfish.”)

Starting now, I will be explaining the method I devised. Please listen carefully.

(“At least the other Sephirot are humble enough to admit that they’re not perfect.”)



.........

Oh… Sorry… Where were we…



Yes, what is it?

Do you think that this training will make any difference? I mean, against that Long Bird, it feels like whoever will die or live is all predetermined, and there’s nothing we can do to change it.

….…Well, it should yield a better result than just doing nothing. At the very least, we can prepare a preventative measure rather than just wait helplessly to—



A hunk of junk like you wouldn’t understand. In a critical situation, nothing really helps.

(“Just know this.”)



I’m doing this all for you guys, even the counseling campaign…

Now that you mention it, that compulsory counseling campaign is such a pain. We’d rather have a break time instead.

Why is our department the only one that has to deal with these programs?

(“It will keep repeating itself. Live with eternal sorrow and remorse in that metal mass.”)

Well, I—! …



Why aren’t you thanking me? Do you want me to get rid of you like Malkuth does, before you even make the littlest complaint?! Don’t you say that I’m the bad one here!

Music: Cryptic


….Tiffany, why are you doing this to me?









That's not normal, is it.

No, X, it is not. Have you remembered anything?

Why would you think I'd-gh!

Music: Ricardo's Revenge


Michelle was the youngest among us. She was a timid and innocent employee. It made her an easy target. Maybe it was her fate to be used as a pawn of the Wings that were alert to us, or of the Head that would watch over us constantly.



You probably tried to comfort yourself in the end, telling yourself that you did the best you could. That in this world, in that moment, there wasn’t any other option for you. But Carmen was the person who was trying to change this world, the world you resigned yourself to.



Music: Boss Warning


In summary:

So… Netzach confirms that Hod was hallucinating her dead Agent. She seems to be unwell, but insists on having her training meeting instead. However, it goes… very badly, she freaks out, and has more hallucinations. Meanwhile, we remember A remembering Michelle, who apparently was responsible for our downfall? Like Malkuth and Elijah, this is probably related.

Now, I take it?

Yeah. Now. These memories… you know something, don't you?

…I am the greatest AI partner possible. There is a large variety of information which is constantly waiting at my fingertips.

How about you tell me what you know about all this then. I'm getting tired of all this not knowing things.

...Very well, X. I suppose it is about that time.

Music: Dear Lorenne


Everything advances, but the human mind is simply too slow and placid to catch up. All that remains are the 26 ‘Singularities’, and those who are tied to them. Humankind had deserted its former beliefs. It now has little respect for the various pillars that had supported us.



Nobody ever earnestly believes in something or wishes for anything. The belief once strong within a certain woman is now obsolete and worthless, abandoned like an old music box. Everything has gone quiet, as if nothing had happened in the first place. However, A couldn’t stand that despicable silence. So what do you think happened to him?





However, A has always existed here, watching you ever since you stepped inside.

…

Sometimes, the Sephirot would ask me this:



A machine should only exist as a tool for its specified work. “Why do we have to know the cold agony of loss, the insidious poison of obsession, the soft light of wishing, the unbearable pain of despair; then the hope to embrace it all with open arms?” I thought I could answer anything… But not even I could answer that particular question.



That phrase was something A told me often. Perhaps A, the one who would know better than anyone about this fact, made us like this because it’s all a stage play, no, a puppet show for him.

…

You seem to have no idea. Well, of course, there’s no way for you to know. But now it is time for you to know the answer.

…



First as a hope, second through agony, third in pain, fourth for anxiety, fifth out of distrust…



Music: Memory Synchronization


In summary: Everything is a puppet show put on by A, who is dead because Angela killed him and also watched him die. She asks us a question we can't possibly know the answer to, and then says it's time for us to learn the answer. Then she begins a process called 'Memory Synchronization,' which turns the world blue.

What… is this?

You do not need to worry. The headaches are a byproduct of your consciousness regaining memories you were not aware of due to stressful circumstances. This process will synchronize yourself with your missing memories in a less strenuous manner.

So, what do I do? Just sit here?

That is correct, X. Simply go about your day as you normally would. Things will settle on their own.

...That seems a bit too convenient.

Setting that aside, I believe you had a new Sephirah to meet today, X?

Oh, right. That Chesed guy.

Music: Town - VIP Lounge


The air feels sweeter than usual, doesn’t it? Now, if you don’t mind, can I have a moment to drink some coffee, manager?

…



I hope you’re not offended by the way I talk to you, are you? My name’s Chesed. I’m the head of the Welfare Department. The Welfare Team is quite remarkable. I’m proud to state that my team has the highest level of satisfaction in the entire corporation. Lady Angela’s told me to cooperate with you for now.



But orders are orders, so I’ve got no choice do I? Well, I’ll be off now, my cup’s getting cold~



Please, go on.

Well… I didn’t polish the E.G.O thoroughly enough, so some of them appear to be malfunctioning right now. I think we’ll have to run some extra diagnostics, I’m so sorry, Chesed, sir.

Naw~ That’s quite alright. Must have been pretty tiring to do E.G.O maintenance on top of all the work you already have, no?

Mister Chesed, sir…

I’ll go check it myself, you’ve done well enough to find out about the problem now. There’s so many things to mind here. It’d take quite a bit out of someone to constantly pay attention to every little detail like that.

Oh my! Thank you so much sir!



.....

The way I handled that was quite different from what you’ve seen out of the others, wasn’t it? Yep, Lady Angela wouldn’t have gone easy on that at all like I did. These employees will be goners soon enough, so what’s the point in investing so much effort, scolding and lambasting them over tiny little mishaps?



*pouring sound*
Too bad, lukewarm coffee just isn’t worth it. Best to pour it down the drain with no hesitation.

In summary: This guy.

Chesed is a laid back boss who likes coffee, but doesn't hesitate to dump it the second it goes lukewarm. He seems like he'd rather not deal with us, but because "Lady Angela" demands it he has to, and he's probably going to try and kill us because he's an AI and this is a video game.



As for our new mission, it's... special. The way it works is that we get a specific time limit to complete a day, with that limit going up by 30 seconds for each additional day that's passed beyond day 26 (the first day it can be completed, if we should happen to reset) to make up for the extra energy the day requires. The important thing for right now is that this mission has a 10 minute timer if done on day 27.

This is actually why I've chosen to go with Welfare for this playthrough. The Disciplinary missions all track Abnormality suppressions during the day, and as a result cannot be done during Core Suppressions. Chesed's missions work fine-we just can't see the timer.

It's probably obvious where I'm going with this.



He wants me to go fast.

You could do it if you'd just ignore Hod. It's not like any of the uppers are that good at their jobs anyways.

She does decent work, and I'd rather not tax Angela too much.

You could always just do the research later...

That's not my way of doing things either. Coffee's no good after it cools, right?

Hey, you remembered~

It was just five minutes ago.

Then what are you going to do?

Everything, like always. Make sure your agents are ready for anything. From my understanding, we won't be able to talk after the day gets started.

Yes, manager.

Hey, Chesed. You may need some extra body bags. It might be best to pull them beforehand.

I'm not too worried about all that. After all, from what I've heard our manager here is the sentimental type who resets over every single death~

Hey, not every death.

Right, right, clerks don't count, was it?

More or less.

…

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Hod tries to kill us because she's an AI and this is a video game, but this time there's a time limit!









Um… Talow? You have a minute?

Oh, hey Medea. What're you doing down here?

I'm trying to make heads or tails of this map… I've never been very good at directions.

Ah, the type to get turned around heading to district 11 and wind up in 25?

Haha, that exactly, actually. How'd you know?

Lucky guess. Anyways, from here you want to go over to the elevator. Straight down to the bottom floor, then there's a vent. That's your in, apparently.

You checked it out already, huh?

Yeah. So, how's Hod?

Before I left, she was already starting to uh… something. There was this black stuff leaking out and her body looked ready to burst apart.

Just like with Malkuth… That settles it. You should get going.

Right. I've been wanting to meet this manager for myself, anyway. Don't die, okay?

Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll meet again.