Part 9: Day 4 - Gameplay

Day 4: Gameplay

I'm going to lead off with a side note, as I've forgotten to mention it for 4 days and there's not really a nice point to slot it in. Those boxes we've been farming Abnormalities for are actually called PE and NE boxes. The P is for 'positive,' and that's the usable boxes. The N is for 'negative,' and they're a useless byproduct created when work goes bad and damages our agents. The E stands for Enkephalin, the substance created when Abnormalities react with our agents. That substance is what Lobotomy Corporation is using to create energy!

Anyhoo, after yesterday we expanded Control and got the Joint Command research. Both of these screenshots were lost forever with the rest of the footage, and doing more MS paint is…





Music: neutral 3


Never let it be said that I don't go the extra mile for you guys.



Anyways, the first thing we do is bring everyone up to level 2 in everything but Justice, at the cost of 1 LOB each. This burns all but 2 of our LOB, but on the upside we got our first rank 3 Agent now!



Our current facility. We're only going to get bigger from here.

Orders from the top, everyone!

We're all on… mirror duty?

The new Abnormality?! Dibs!

...and there she goes. At least she's consistent.



One Sin subsists on secrets... Maybe her form of food is stupid risks?

Abnormal co-workers aside, we can still use her to make sure we don't die. C'mon, let's go watch.



Our new Abnormality is a bit different. Every fourth Abnormality introduced to your facility is a Tool Abnormality, which work under slightly different sets of rules. For starters, they don't produce boxes like normal Abnormalities. Because of this, unlocking their information works a bit differently.



For this Abnormality, we have to have someone rub their face against it and pray it doesn't make them explode. After the first time we get a little bit of information, and so on until we unlock everything at 10 uses. The other type of tool Abnormalities are based on time used, and those ones are either tools that your agents carry around, or that they can pass time inside of.



We go ahead and assign Mizu to poke at the mirror. Take a good look at her stats here.





Huh. I don't feel any different. Though...



No matter what I do, it stays with me. This blood. The blood of the enemies I've beaten, the foes I've crushed…

Uh… Mizu?

Hail to thee, Talow. But prithee, don't come too close. As you know, my arm is cursed with dark powers that I am frequently powerless to hold back. One wrong step and… Ah! Oh no! I'm going to go get a soda before..!

...what the hell was that?

I think the mirror turned her into some kind of delusional weirdo.

And we're all going in next… Great.



And here's Mizu after her trip. This Abnormality, named the Mirror of Adjustment, shuffles all of an Agent's stats around as well as changes their title to a new one. The first use per Agent per day is free, and uses after that knock 20 points off of the stat total of the Agent. Today, Mizu's Fortitude has dropped back down to level 1. That means we'll be able to power it up either during the day via training, or by spending 1 LOB during preparation. That gives her a lot of extra points with minimal effort, which the mirror can then randomly reassign again the next day.

To summarize: Mirror of Adjustment is a Tool which allows us to have relatively consistent training no matter what we have. I'm kicking myself for taking 1.76 MHz over -56 back on day 1 now, but there was no way of knowing beforehand that this would show up here. Still, from here on having mirror to level out our training allows us to prioritize Abnormalities who give good E.G.O gear or help with completing missions over anything else.

This Abnormality has proven to be an incredibly useful find. How incredibly fortuitous for us.

...Fortuitous. Yes.

We throw the others in as well.





There's not even anything reflected here...



I guess I feel a bit less tired now, at least.







_{My notepad doesn't match my memory... Something must've happened.}



Really don't see why I was so worried. That wasn't so bad at all.

D.A.D. here hit the only other really good result from mirror, winding up with Temperance back at 1, and notably a very high Justice stat. When using Mirror, the more points that land in Justice the better, since it costs 3x as many points to buy and also trains more slowly than other stats.

Malkuth, go ahead and have the agents train in order to capitalize on their new strengths.

Really, manager? Thank you for trusting my judgment on this! I promise I won't disappoint you!

Yeah, yeah… I just need to read something while you're busy with that.

Days 4 and 5 of any given 5-day cycle are usually best spent on mopping up any gear we haven't already grabbed from the Abnormalities we got at the beginning of the week, so today the primary goal is to finish getting the weapon and suit from Forsaken Murderer maxed out, while doing some training on the side. Mizu goes to work on propping up her Justice before I notice that her Prudence is literally one point away from hitting level 3, at which point I shove her on Insight work. D.A.D. works his Fortitude with the Forsaken Murderer, Talow builds his Justice back up on 1.76, and Bishop…



That Murderer might have been, once, but all that's left now is an empty husk, void of anything but the rage and hatred that others put on to him. One Sin has no malice at all… it simply wants to consume the secrets of others. What sort of place is this, if they're willing to imprison ambivalent or even benevolent entities, all for their own gain? Is the Enkephalin they're producing really worth all that?

How should I know, sir? I'm just here to move Delta3's stuff to the incinerator.

...Ah. I'll go with you.

One round of work later, we're halfway done.



Sacrifices, vain, yeah…

X, what could you possibly be perusing during work hours?

I'm paging through the Control team's code of conduct. It's… strict?

Malkuth does pride herself on her team's performance. You should put that down, before you happen to see something which would appear insensible to you.

...yeah, bit late for that.

While we were speaking, the energy quota was just met. Perhaps you'd like to rest and prepare for tomorrow's work?

Just have Malkuth keep going. We'll quit once I'm through reading this.

Are you certain that's wise?

Heard it loud and clear, Manager! Take all the time you need to review my policy! I'm prepared to have it enacted in whatever other departments you see fit!

A few meltdowns later, something interesting happens!



We get hit by a meltdown on the mirror itself. Since we can't actually touch it again without someone losing 20 stat points, we have no choice but to let it tick down to 0. When it does…



We lose energy equal to the level of the overload that spawned it*5, or 15 energy in this case. It doesn't take much time to get back, D.A.D. there just about does the job by themselves.

After a largely uneventful rest of the day, we end things without any major issues.



The promotions are for D.A.D. and Bishop, leaving Talow as the only rank 2 Agent left on the team right now.

That just leaves Abnormality selectio-

There isn't any Abnormality selection today, manager.

What? Why not?

There's only enough room for four Abnormality containment cells in any given department. Where would we even place a fifth?

I… guess you have a point. Alright then, let's call it a day. Good job everyone.

Yes. My most heartfelt congratulations to all involved.

Alright time to pack it in, people!

Meanwhile…


Isn't that a useful talent in this company?

Perhaps. However, the dark history which has given me this unfortunate curse is so cursed, and so dark, that it haunts me every day. The screams and gunfire of 1.76 MHz are nothing compared to the dark darkness that tortures the very darkness of my soul.

Mizu. Uh… Mizu? You may wanna turn around.

The dark tortures of this darkness pulse and throb throughout my body. Ah! The pain! In my left arm! I can't… control it… any longer!

Oh my! Mizu, it looks like your mental corruption level has gone over the acceptable limit!

Um. No ma'am. I'm fine, ma'am.

Oh? But you just said your mind was tortured and your arm was hurting.

That was… uh… An example for the other employees of things to look out for! Ma'am!

...Alright. Carry on.




Oh god I thought I was gonna' "resign."

Honestly, same.

Hey, you two get over here and help us put this gear away!

Coming!

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Angela teaches us how to garden!