Part 81: Day 36 - Gameplay

Day 36: Gameplay

Music: neutral 2




Just some slight reshuffles to assign new Agents.

I will take these two.

Normally, departments are supposed to have three. I was going to assign you-

Surely, two agents should be enough to handle a single Abnormality. Do you lack faith in them?

Er… no, I wouldn't say that.

Then these two are all I want.

...is she always like that?

I prefer to avoid speaking with her, manager.

Right. Well, it'll be a nice quiet day after a week of craziness. Everyone ready?

Um… aren't you sort of dancing around the elephant in the room?

What? Oh, yeah. Apparently we're without three of the Sephirot now. Last night sucked, so let's never have it happen again. Tiphereth, I'm sorry to ask but can you pull double duty again?

I'll give it my all, manager. Tiphereth always works hard for me, so it's time to return the favor.

That just leaves Welfare and Disciplinary. Angela, you're the one who screwed it up, you get to handle them.

While none of the Sephirot could perform such a feat, it should be no trouble for a perfect AI such as myself.

Sure, perfect AI, whatever. Any other concerns on the list?

Just the usual.

Alright. This week is gonna' get hairy, but let's make today a quiet one at least.





I wonder how you'll react today? Don't disappoint me.

Our facility's got another layer now, below Disciplinary.



Extraction is a very dark department, full of weird pillars with writing all over them.

Oh, hello there again boss lady!

Um… 'again?'

Why hello there. You know what to do, I'm sure. I'll simply wait and see what kind of work you do today.

Sweet. New cutie, all for me!

I'm… just going to get ignored down here, aren't I?

I prefer not to interfere with your general work. When the time comes for me to give orders, I expect you to follow them perfectly. If not...

…you'll kill us?

Oh, no. I won't need to.





Orders from the top, everyone! We're to… stand by! I expect a good effort at staying ready for anything.

Oh, hey, Malkuth. I know Bishop knows his way around, but we still have to give him the tour, right? Since it's a new ID?

Good idea. Get to that, Mr. temp worker!

<sub>They're having another dramatic showdown?

It has been two weeks…

Oh my gosh they're so cool! We'll give them their space.</sub>

...Yeah, let's take a look around.



Our new Abnormality is some sort of face-speckled maw of terror.



Oh! I know that smell, Mr. Cutie! So you're basically a giant pile of dead meat? Then that means punching, right? Oookay! I'll beat you up a whole lot!



After Yesod's bonus is included, we get enough PE boxes from Mizu's first work to immediately unlock its name. Say hello to Mountian of Smiling Bodies.

All in a daay's work! All I have to do is-

Not so fast there, dear madam!



I knew I sensed a smiling soul in search of sustenance!

Booo. I'm already taking care of this cutie, it likes punches and kicks and definitely not being fed! That's the rule!

HAHAHAHA! But a good boy who smiles like that should be given pets and meals! Let me show you the power…



Of INSTINCT work!

Gasp!

_{Did… you just say gasp?}

No time for that now! My unparalleled cutie connection has just been questioned by this smiling charlatan!

Boss… can you put an end to this? I get the feeling they're about to do something really dumb.

Hmhmhm… It's been far too long since I've been able to see even this sort of sight. Do you understand now, manager?

...No, not at all.





It's my turn! Chiral! Keep score, while I show this smilehaving facehaver how to really work with cuties!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Challenge accepted, cutie chaser! I'll show you the power of smiles!

...I'd like to go back to Welfare now, please.

Denied.

By having Mizu and Mr.Black alternate works, one can be healing while the other is getting me more PE boxes. I'm not TOO worried about training them, though the rest of the facility is busy doing their own thing-training newbies and whatnot.



Meanwhile Twee is working with Nothing There for reasons that don't pay off today at all. I want that E.G.O gift on her ASAP.



And this is the CCTV room…

Cut the crap, Talow. I'm not dead, and it's been two weeks. You knew the manager was going to kill me.

I knew you were going to die. By the end it was pretty obvious how, but it's not exactly my fault you keep getting yourself killed.

Yeah, that right there. That's what I'm going to need you to start explaining. You know things you shouldn't, and I want an explanation.

Well, I did promise, so… what the hell, maybe things are finally moving again. Okay, ask whatever you like. I can't say everything, but I'll say what I can. You've got the whole day.

Then let's start at the beginning: How do you know so much about this place?

Oh, that? I've been working with you guys for… way, way more years than I can count.

Huh? But… I started here a little over a month ago.

You should probably sit down.



Crimson Dawn.



If you don't hurry up, this clown may just make that Mountain of Smiling Bodies go feral on you, dear Mizu!!

Sorry! Can't hear you over how awesome at cuties I am!! Go ahead and keep hammering away, though~!



Crimson Done.



No way-looping?!

You've seen the TimeTrack gear. You knew about the redos if days go south. All I'm doing is telling you that it's bigger than that.

No, no that's not-When things rewind, nobody remembers any of what happened.

Yeah. I'm kind of the exception to that. A… monitor, basically. Supposed to secretly observe the new manager's actions and progress so that my boss can learn about him when he wakes up.

Your boss?

Can't answer that one. You'll know him when you see him.

Then the last 30 days… this isn't our first time through them?

Nowhere near it. I usually start around when the manager does, and honestly we don't usually make it past day 30 with a new manager.

But wait-does that mean our manager is..?

Nah. This is his first time-that's part of why I'm bothering to tell you any of this. This… This is new. There's a lot of new this go around. Hopefully, it's the kind of new that gets me what I'm after.



Hey Sorcrane, what happened to your ears?

Oh, those? They're in my pocket. I get the same bonus either way.

The ears actually just fail to show up sometimes, due to some bug or another.



Manager, the information on Mountain of Smiling Bodies has been compiled, and we are ready to work towards-

Repression!

Instinct!

Kicks!

Cakes!

Guns!

Hugs!

...Towards extracting its E.G.O.

Yeah… let's let them work this out themselves.



So then, what are you after?

I've lost track of how long I've been going through this place, day after day, waiting until the TimeTrack equipment sends the manager spinning back and leaving me behind.

...huh?

Oh, right. I guess you wouldn't know about that. You don't remember the days that get reset, but I do. I also remember what happens after the resets. Usually, it's everyone dying when the Abnormalities breach… Honestly, after the first few times I usually just have someone off me so I can bounce back over to the current timeline.



So… Green Noon. Our new Abnormality is a Clerk's Rights member alongside Big Bird, so I try not to lose too many clerks.



RrrAGH!!

Of course when the game throws situations like this at me… I Red shield the both of them and move on.



So then… that thing that happened to Malkuth was new too, right?

Um… about that.

That had happened before? You told me it was new!

It was new! To me, anyway. Look, most of the time the manager's kind of careless, so I've died to a lot of things around here. Scarecrows, Violet Noons, Medea with a Red weapon when I panicked and started swinging at anyone in sight…

Wait, wait… Medea? She's one of the nicest people here.

Yeah…



Go ahead. Chainsaw away. It won't do anything to me. When you're done, I'm going to tear into you until you've paid for that life you just took.

Did you notice how she basically mans Training all by herself while the newbies are getting the hang of things? You don't ever want to piss her off.

Noted.



...No more grass remains.





Do you really think that will help?

It's important that we stop the killers, but in this place death is an inevitability. If you want, I'll schedule a counseling session for you later.

But… I'm supposed to help with counseling.

That doesn't mean you can't get help yourself. Let's get you scheduled.

Uh… yes ma'am!



Mmm… that polymorph effect you can do sometimes is a bit impressive. I really don't suppose you could teach me to do it with this suit, could you? ...yeah, I guess not.

Anyways, the point is, as an early hire sometimes you can't keep from dying. Horribly. Basically every time. When that happened, the boss would usually pull some strings to hire me later on in a later timeline to get his information. Every now and then, we'd have some strange tech upgrades-better training programs, nanites coming from the vents, and I'd see odd things like Netzach giving a damn or Malkuth acting well-adjusted.

She's always been well-adjusted. High strung, maybe, but well-adjusted to this place.

Sure, bud. Anyways, I didn't put it together 'til recently.

...Well, I guess that makes sense. I don't think any of this really answers what you're after, though.



Aha! Hey! Mr.Black! After your last work with it it got angry! I told you you shouldn't feed it! It likes being stomped on more!

An exquisite guess, but the timing's off! It happened AFTER the work, but BEFORE your own! It can't have been my work! Perhaps it wants some jerky? HAHAHA!

I shall step in here. It's not either of you who caused this. It was the manager's own carelessness. Isn't that right?

Uh… maybe?

During the Green Noon, we lost more than 10 clerks total. Because of this, the Mountain's QC drops to 1. When this happens, it gives us a very blatant visual cue.



I could watch it go all day.

Its QC can also drop by getting a Bad result, or by having an Agent at less than full HP/SP begin a work with it-something to keep in mind if our healing gets turned off ever again.

Its moves are quite mesmerizing!

At least you're right about that.



Getting back to the question I asked… what are you after, Talow?

I've been killed countless ways, and watched all of you people die countless times. Frankly, I want out. Anything 'new' that might lead to some other path out of this hell facility is worth a shot, at this point.

...Mmm… I guess I can understand that. Still, none of this gets me any closer to knowing what's going on.

If I knew what was going on, do you think I'd be here? Whatever the point of all this is, they don't tell us agents anything about it, If you decide to ask around to get to the heart of things you'll wind up Execution bulleted if you're lucky. All I know is that we're all going to die in this hell, but can't do much to stop it in the end. The best I can manage is to help the people I like live a little longer before I get ripped apart and sent back to the next loop in this endless cycle.

Then why didn't you just tell me that in the first place?!

Because I really hate going over things pointlessly, time after time, remember? Why bother telling the same story to the same person who's going to die in a couple days, then demand it again the next time around? Not to mention the way you get when you're hunting for answers... It gets old.

...



Hey newbie, how's work with Blue Star going?

Not bad! I can't believe that there's an ancient temple to the concept of leg fetishism in a place like this.

A… what?

Anyways, where's your boss? I haven't seen him all day.

He is following his calling, and attending to the needs of one of mother's poor creatures.

Huh. Sounds nice of him.

Blue Star continues to be one of the best ways to get our newbies up to 100 Justice in a hurry.



I take it from the depressing silence that we're all done here, then, except for-

Did any version of me ever find out what happened to my dad?

That last question.



You're very good at dancing, but how can you sing? Repeat after me: _{"Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor."}

That's not even singing! You're just whispering!

How long have they even been at this… what are they doing, again?

Mizu believes Repression work to be the most effective, and Netzach's captain seems to believe that Instinct is the key to success. They both seek to prove their claim.

But the data says that both work types-

I'm not interested in which one is right, or wrong. That they choose to have this fight, and the result they come to. That is all I wish to partake in, at this moment.



...I think I'm done here. Just. Just call me when the gear's been extracted.

Certainly. E.G.O extraction is one of my duties here, after all.

Extraction's bonus actually helps with the gear-gathering process, as the Clerks make the cost of getting new gear slightly cheaper during the day-for instance, our level 1 department lowers the cost of Mountain of Smiling Bodies's weapon from 222 to 214. It's not really a huge amount, goes away if our Clerks there die, only is in effect during the workday so we can't equip the things we build until the next day, and takes so long to get to that it's not worth thinking about, but it's nice to have.



You're back! Did you have a good trip?

…

It went well enough. Anything happen?

I took out the Green Noon that showed up by myself.

We're finally catching up to you, boss. His finishing move was absolutely legendary.

Yeah, it was like… "BWZZZZ" and I was like… "Don't blow a fuse, Ordeal. Or better yet… do." and then I fired, and then, BAM, and it was out!

Huh… that's great, Omni. Really glad for you.

Hey, are you okay? You don't seem so hot.

_{Just coming to terms with everything being pointless.}

...huh?

Oh, I just said I was thinking about how to get around while having to walk less. This place is… big.

It sure is. Going to Central's a killer, and trying to get down below that'd take forever.



Yet another Good result! Put it on the tally with the rest!



You're laughing real loud for someone whose face is about to get melted off by how pure my love for cuties is! Mountie likes ME best, that's why they let me call them Mountie.

Funny that you say that while Repressing them every time you walk into their room! Why, I dare say your mask is hiding a frown of worry!

Hah! Just look at the score, then we'll see who should be frowning! Chiral, who's winning? It's me, right?



Nope! You're exactly tied right now. That's where you're at.

<sub>You just made that up.

What, you expect me to keep track of all this chaos?</sub>

Hm. Perhaps you are a worthy rival after all. I still won't lose in love for cuties!

And I can't be surpassed in caring for smiles!

Go shove it out your face, you demented dentist!

Not before you, you cutie cassanova!

Hnhnhn..!

HAHAHA!!

HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

...why me.



Oh. Punishing Bird.

Manager, you sound… bored.

Well, yeah. Nothing's going on today. I almost miss the chaos.

Um… it's important to breathe when you can, I think. We are acting with people's lives on the line, after all.

Good point.



Oh hey, good to see you out and about again after your run-in with Tenebrais.



Don't worry, she's not here right now.





And with one final bout of work to support the smiles within your soul…



Our work is done! And I must say, the manner of your outerwear positively speaks to me!



You can have it. I still haven't found one I really like yet, so I'm just in this 'cause Mr. Manager Guy says to be.

Resplendent! Then, that leaves the outcome of our battle-your love of cuties versus my own love of smiles!

Chiral?!

Uh… well. Er…

The both of you worked to your fullest, and there were no works below a Good result. If you were to go until one of you faltered, I wonder who would crumble in the end…?

A tie?!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! As expected of the company's Just Mizu!

And better than expected for Mr.Black, I guess.

If it's a smile, I know how to treat it!

All I got out of that is 'The E.G.O are ready,' so I'm going to call the day here.

Of course, manager. I shall begin the procedure immediately.



The day is preparing to end. Please return to stations and assist with standard closing procedures at this time.

Tch. Boring. Nothing happened today.

Say, Tenebrais? You don't think I could move down here too, come tomorrow, do you?

Eh? What do you want with Disciplinary?

Iunno… I just like red.

Heh. Well, if you're not careful, the floors are gonna be dyed red with-

She means, welcome to the team.

Wha-well. Yeah. Just don't get murdered, or I'll tear you in two.

Uh… sure. I will try to not get killed.



Hey… has anyone seen Tiphereth since she wandered into storage a couple days ago?

Nah, not lately.

She's currently undergoing repairs. The process takes a little longer than a replacement, so she'll need a while.

Wait… repairs?

Ma'am, do you think that means..?

Probably. Great, I totally wanted to deal with this.

Uh… I'm feeling a bit out of the loop here.

I'll catch you up after work.



Okay everyone, it's time to clean up and file away the new Abnormality specs we got. Good work.

Y'know Kaori, I kind of miss doing… works. Do they do those up here, anymore?

Naah… us oold agents are basically on standby for Ordeeals… It's best to find a project and work on it in the free time…

Project? Like what?

Well... you could help me prove that D.A.D. is an aalieen..!

The captain? You're kidding.

Loook at them, over there.

I'm thinking… a toasted sandwich. There's that one new place I've heard about… _{Do I have enough to warp in a delivery..?}

Seems normal to me.

Exactly..! That's just how an aalieen trying to pass as huuman would look..!

Right… Good luck with that.



Good work today, everyone.

…

Hey. I know you're disappointed, but that's no excuse for just shutting down.

I was supposed to get answers.

And you did.

But none of them mattered!

I'm a grunt, same as you. You should've known neither of us could know anything important. It's your own fault you got so wrapped up in my deal.

...Can you blame me?

It saved your life, so I guess not.

Guess there's that, yeah.

Hey… guys? I know you're having a big meaningful bonding moment but I really need help with this box.

Ah-I'll be right there. Good talk, Bishop. Try not to die tomorrow, okay?

I won't. Since I've already broken the record, I'll just do everything the other mes weren't able to.

That's the spirit.



It's time for the real work to begin. Prepare yourselves, my agents.

More numbers go up! Two of our newbies are still in need of some HP, but other than that we're about at the limits of what training can do. This is nice, since it lets me focus on things like farming for gear. Setting that aside, we do have one last choice to deal with today.

Music: never frozen bottom flows


O-02-74: It can enter your body through any aperture.
O-03-89: If a flaw in the system disables the censors covering the Abnormality, we will once again have to sincerely consider how to dispose of the manager.
F-02-70: What happens when the black swan wakes up from dreaming of a white swan?

Oooh, don't mind if I do! Our pick here today is going to be -74, a WAW with a very difficult to activate instant kill that's otherwise relatively benign. It's good for Instinct and Repression training, and its weapon is the Red damage booster, like Lamp for Black and Spore for White. It'll round the collection out nicely, and its weapon type is something we haven't seen before either. The others aren't bad picks for our facility either. Of them, -70 is a WAW and the safer pick-it's difficult to make breach, but its gear is mostly so-so and if it ever does breach then our life is about to become very painful, very quickly. The last, -89, is an ALEPH. While it's very difficult for early game facilities to handle without it running rampant over the entire facility and killing everyone dozens of times over, we have the tools necessary to take care of it right now-between the new suit we just got from Mountain of Smiling Bodies, the Portrait, and our bullets, we have several ways of dealing with its main threat-high SP damage output when working it. I opt not to pick it today because I'm more interested in suits than I am in weapons-and -89 only has the latter. It's one of the best weapons in the game for survival, though, so please show up again later, -89!



Anyways, we'll go for the super safe but somehow also super profitable pick. I'm not kidding when I say I will happily place -74 in any facility I'm building. It's that good.

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Binah introduces herself properly.

New Guidelines

Mountain of Smiling Bodies

New Gear


Requirements: Level 5, Temperance 5
*Not affected by Attack Speed


Requirements: Level 5, Temperance 5

New Story

Mountain of Smiling Bodies