Part 112: Day 45 - Gameplay

Day 45: Gameplay

Music: neutral 4


Manager, from now on your agents' deaths shall no longer force us to re-extract their E.G.O gear at all.

I'd thank you, but… You could have made it be that way whenever you wanted, couldn't you?

Unusually perceptive. I thought that you may appreciate a reward for the amusement of yesterday.

Y'know what… it's still more than I expected. Thank you.

This reward is a game-changer. Before, we wanted to be careful with our Agents because a slip-up would mean having to re-extract their gear all over again. Now, the only thing we lose is the LOB and time we put into training them up in the first place. We won't really be needing this for this playthrough, but it's a godsend in normal runs of the game-usually we'd want it before ever facing WhiteNight. It's only a shame that it comes so late.

Angela, can you boot up the intercoms? I need to make an announcement.

Manager, are you quite sure?

These guys are the ones that got me this far. I should let them know what's going on.

...very well, A.

Ahem… ahem. Hm. Excuse me. Er… This is on, right?

Yes, Manager. It is on.

Er-right. Attention, everyone. Can I have a second?



Some of you may not be aware of this, but this is facility X-394's 45th official day since my takeover as the manager.

Hey Omni, have you seen my lucky keychain?

I think it was in your locker last night?

Ah, crap. It's where I kept my locker key!

Don't worry! I can handle this problem with my spare key!

You're a lifesaver, boss! I can't work without it.

The E.G.O in there helps too, of course.

_{So he's really going through with it…}



Some of you have been with us from the beginning, and some of you just started two days ago. To all of you, I'd like to say: Thank you. Moreover, I'd like to say I'm sorry.

Do you always come to work in your E.G.O suit?

Changing in the dorms before I come in is simply more efficient, fellow human!

That's a kind of dedication I can get behind.

Say kiddo, are you going to get ready or just stare at me from outside the door?

I am waatching the aalieen inteently..!

Whatever floats your boat, kid.



I haven't been forthright with all of you. So I'll start with this: Mankind is dying. As a species, we've caught a disease of the mind-one that removes our hopes and dreams and leaves us with nothing but a meaningless existence of trying to stave off death.

_{Five more minutes…}

HAHAHA! No can do, boss! It's time to wake up and face the day with a smile!

Yes. Rise, and take your place within my grand design.

Doesn't anyone else feel like we should maybe... I dunno, be paying attention to this? ...No one?



You probably figured it out by now, but this isn't really just a power company. We're gathering energy in this facility so that we can follow my plan in order to fix this for everyone. This is something that needs to be top secret-that's why none of you have been allowed to leave at any point in this process. We're going to fix the disease in everyone's minds and-_{ooooh I just got it. That's why this is Lobotomy Corporation! Wow. Wow. I'm not sure if that's amazing or stupid.}

...Boss, are you really sure this guy's a good manager?

I like 'im! He's got spunk.

And accident records don't lie… Nobody dies around here but clerks, and their disaster prep training is… Bad.

And Ishmael… but that's still really good!

Hey Hod, I got the Enkephalin from Safety, where should I put it?

The secure storage area, Elle, thank you.

Still don't trust the guy.

Wait, is something going on?

Manager's talking. Something about brainworms.

Sounds interesting.



I would love to tell you my brilliant plan, or assure you that it'll work, but… Unfortunately, that plan seems to have involved me wiping my own memory and living out the same period of time for thousands of years. And… I have taken all of you with me. Sorry about that. Please ask Talow if you need any details, he knows more about it than me.



...Yeah, that's about where I'm at, ma'am. Curing people? By... looping time and getting power? How's that even work?

Aha! I knew, knew, knew that I was destined for something great. Make sure to give me the credit I deserve when all of humanity is cured!

Hey, you guys! It's fine if you listen 'cause this is important, but you'd better be getting ready for the day too! I won't tolerate any tardies!



Anyways, um… right. The only way for us to get out of the time loop we're all stuck in is by completing the plan. Those strange events we've been seeing-the last of which was only yesterday-have been key moments in that plan, and as it stands now we are on the very cusp of victory. There's one more department to open, one more Sephirot along with it, and once that's done we'll all be able to leave and get back to our lives.

Hold on a moment… isn't that… really bad, actually?

How ya mean?

If we all lose our jobs, it means we won't get paid anymore.

If it's been thousands of years, are we really getting paid in the first place?

We were promised bimonthly checks.

...Tiphereth?

I don't actually know… Sorry.



Er-that's all besides the point though. The point is, tomorrow we're actually entering into the unknown-unknown. Except I guess it's more of a… known unknown at this point, but apparently the last Sephirah is kind of a dick? Since I don't know what's coming, I don't know what we'll be able to do about it. There's a possibility that people are going to die here.

As stirring a speech as could be expected from the manager~

Aww, that's a little cold, isn't it? Coming up with this stuff on the fly is hard.

You did fine when we were playing before.

I took two days to come up with that speech! And you ruined it by throwing a sword at the boss mid-sentence!

And it was brilliant! Muahahaha!

Man, I have got to sit in on one of these games…



That said, we have today. We know today will be quiet-meltdowns can't spawn here anymore, and I've got the hang of this place's quirks. If there's anything you guys need to handle, do it now. I can't promise you'll get another chance after this.

Heh. Still green, I see. In Disciplinary there's never a guaranteed tomorrow in the first place. Ain't that right?

Ma'am!

I do have to admit it's a lot different than I thought it'd be. I can't say I dislike it, though.

You only die if you suck. I'll be coming back no matter what. Same for you, right Credentia?

Yeah. There's no way I could leave you unsupervised.

Exactly! ...Hey, wait-!



What I can promise is an ending. For better or worse, there won't be any more loops after this. No more day 1s. We can all stop having to live in this ever-repeating prison from hell. I can't promise hope beyond that since I still don't know what the plan is-but at this point I'll take any door out of here.

Same. But, Manager...

Hey Taaalooow~

The Manager said you knew something about all this.

You were going to tell us all about it, right?

Why'd you have to throw a guy under the bus like that.

Talow. I'll authorize it, just this once.

What about Angela?

She cannot stand against A's word. You don't have anything to worry about.

Right. Then can you take a memo..?



Anyways, that's all. I'll be relying on you guys 'til the end, just like I have so far. Thanks to all of you, and once this plan is over I'll have to make sure that you're all compensated accordingly. I know nobody's here for their health, heh. After the shift, beer's going to be on me today. I'll see you all on the work floor.

I wouldn't exactly call that 'inspirational…'

It was definitely something I'd call a speech!

Come, children. There is little time left before our work begins.

Already? Ugh, the guy talked through my whole stretch routine.

Maybe you should make a shorter one?

Nevermind, I'll just do it on company time.

DAY 45 CHALLENGE: TO LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

Rules: Prepare for the end. Let this day pass without regrets.

Well, here's hoping that went over how I meant it.

Manager, I have a memo from Talow. He says, "You sold me out, you loquacious bastard. Screw you. Whoever punched you is my new favorite employee even harder than they were before."

...Okay, deserved. I do have one more thing before we start, though.

What's that, manager?

Every one of us has had our chance to lead us off with a statement or phrase, me included.

That was more due to your own stubbornness than anything…

Regardless, there's one person who hasn't gotten a chance to yet. Since we don't know what's coming tomorrow… Angela?

...Manager?

The floor is yours. Get us rolling.

…





Agents… You know your duty. Handle it.



That was more succinct than I was expecting.

Is there an issue, manager?

Nah. Nicely done.

We do still have one last Abnormality to figure out-the one we got just before Binah. It is a book. We send Mizu to go read it.



Here are her stats before reading the book.



"Klaatu barada nikto..?" Ooh, sounds foreign.



And after. The book raises Prudence by 15, but also lowers White resistance by tacking on a 1.3x multiplier. Each time we have an Agent read it, they get 15 more Prudence (to a maximum of 100), and the modifier gets +0.3 added to it (to a maximum of 2.3x)



Like so. Here's Mizu after 7 uses, getting both the maximum White defense penalty and Prudence bonus.



This also gets us all of the Abnormality's information. It's named Skin Prophecy, and the other major downside is that panicking leads to the Agent in question dying instead. It's a popular way to deal with CENSORED while using weaker suits, since boosting Prudence by 100 takes the edge off of CENSORED's massive fear damage, and it deals Black so the penalty isn't a problem. That's really all there is to say about it-like most tool Abnormalities it's relatively simple.



Trainees, the Manager has a big day planned for each of you-your Justice needs to get fortified and there's not a lot of time to do it in. Steve, report to Central Command to work with Yin.

Can do!

ImIdiot, you'll be near Safety to work with Blue Star. Make sure not to stay in there for longer than 60 seconds at a time.

I'll set a timer!

Carlos, that leaves you in Extraction with Mountain of Smiling Bodies. You'll-

Miss Hod, the safety procedures for Mountain require level 4 Justice in order to get any sort of results. I'm not up to snuff! If we don't follow the regulations..!

An excellent observation, Carlos! On the way, you'll be stopping by Control to pick up a secret weapon.

Alright. I'll give it my best!



This will boost Carlos's Justice to level 4, letting him work with Mountain without any issue.

Wait… are those… all the orders you're giving?

Yeah. Outside of that it's self-study. The workday'll finish eventually.

Do you seriously think anyone here is going to work on their own?

I imagine at least one person will.



Listen, Bird. You're a means to an end. Don't even think about escaping.

Tenebrais has to be feeling annoyed that she can't wear her favorite gear anymore.

In addition to the three above, Tenebrais is going to be working to get her Fortitude and Prudence up in order to get her back into Twilight. She's also the WhiteNight babysitter for the day.

Mizu'd better wash it before she hands it over.

E.G.O maintenance is actually our job… so yes. We'll wash it.

I'm still not entirely sure this was wise, A. Telling them that, then giving them the day off? Why?

They'll need time to process. I just told them they've all been here for thousands of years, after all.

So what's the plan if all that processing leads to a riot, Manager?

I'm going to trust that that won't happen.

You're planning to turn back time and simply not tell them, I take it.

I'm going to trust that that won't happen.

That's… not a no, Manager.



So… wait… If all of that stuff the boss said was right, that means… Hey, aren't we living in an anime?

All of our research can finally come in handy! I can't wait until we fight the dark versions of some of our closest allies!

We need to come up with a team pose...

Hey guys, I think I'm gonna call a captain's meeting.

But your pose!

Just draw it out on a page or something, I'll look later.

You're the best, boss!



...any other questions?

Mmm… Yes. What happens to those other places after you leave them?

Do I look like a physicist to you? I don't have a clue.

Aha. I'm done, then.

And I got it all noted down.

Perfect. I'll make some copies and bring them with me. This'll save a lot of time later.



Mm… mmmm…

You seem stressed, fellow human. What troubles you?

This is the last daay… but I don't have the eevidence I waanted… But there's noo chooice..! I haave to goo for iit..!

I've gotta head to a team meeting, kiddos. Have a good one.

No! Wait! D.A.D… I am aware of your seecret..! You… are an aalieen..!

Sorry kiddo, just a cyborg.

Whaat..? Noo… That can't be riight…

I was on duty in Safety during a routine physical. It's accurate.

Then… there aare no alieens..?

Couldn't say. Have a good one, kiddos..!

…



It's… beautiful.

It's nothing, Manager.

Exactly.

When our entire facility is suppressed, the game gets very quiet. There's nothing to pay attention to but the Ordeals-I honestly find it kind of zen.



Everyone here?

Twee's hiding behind me for some reason.

Kit told me this was your favorite type of greeti-oooooh…

You've got to stop listening to that one.

I come with tidings from Mr.Black. He says he'll be along shortly.

And I have a message from Tenebrais! It was… oh, what was it. "If you don't want WhiteNight to break out and turn everyone into cuties again, you're having the meeting in Disciplinary today."

We're going to Disciplinary, then. Any objections?



Motion carries, let's move. Sephiroth?

I shall deliver the message without fail.



Empty nest. Guess that means I'm on my own for the first Ordeal. Just an Amber, but… Say, do you want to help?



Aww. That's a shame-you're really a nice bird to have around.





Alright, I'm here. We got a bit of time before WhiteNight starts throwing another tantrum, so talk.

Actually, that's just it. I was wanting to check in with you guys and see if any of you had problems with this stuff. Fixing the human condition's a big deal…

And one you knew about weeks ago.

I didn't get the full details until last night, but-hey, wait! Talow!

Manager dropped a bus on me, so you can bet I'm gonna drive it right over you, Bishop. We're done hiding things.

Er… right.

I gotta get back to work, catch me up after their lover's spat.

H-hey!



Amber Dawn.



Shouldn't you be out there fighting?

I'm on break.

Oh, us too. We've learned how you do things-it's the basics for any Zeta.

The ones that want to survive, anyway.

Working harder than you have to is a sucker's game anyways.

We thought so, too-so we did you a favor.

We put your name in for the head of the next department. Yesod thought it'd be a great idea.

...what.

You're an ideal agent, and this way you'd be close to the Manager. His acknowledging you led to a situation where our employees aren't sacrificed needlessly. I plan to build on it. Of course, Hod is planning to assist.

Um… we believe in you!

...do I get to pick my own team?

If it goes through, you'd have to ask the Manager.

I'll think about it.



Amber Done.

Manager, the energy is halfway done.

Perfect.

We'll also be needing to have a conversation regarding recent developments with the Records Team.

What, Talow? He's not recent.

Nonetheless, I must insist that the existence of such an Agent risks completely undoing the entire script we are working within, and resetting all of our progress to 0.

Then it would have happened by now, wouldn't it?

So long as no one knew, perhaps, but now-

We'll talk after work.

I must insist-

It won't be that long. You can wait.

…

Very well, Manager.



Zeta disappeeared… mysteerioous..!

…

Yoou've been quiiet… that's okay… I'm shocked, tooo… It's too baad...

We... shouldn't give up, fellow human.

But there's noobody else who fits the proofiile…

There… might be one, fellow human.

Ooh..? Whoo…?

I… may or may not be a reconnaissance agent sent here by the Elders and their empire to determine the probability of a successful invasion.

Aaww… You don't have to cheer me uup…

I'm being quite serious, fell-er, human. With all the things I've seen here, I'd have sent the 'Do not engage' beacon weeks ago-if I could get a signal out of this blasted facility.

Ooh… myy… good…



I'm back. I was just toasting some bagels for the...

I have so many questions. Tell me all of the thiings. Aall of them..!

_{You are very close!}

I wiill have my aansweers..!

Floor... jelly… yeah, I'll just come back.



...where's the others?

They went back to my place! They were like 'It's too small in here' and 'I wish we had a bigger space' and I was like 'well I know a place' and they were like 'but it's so daark' so I promised to light candles down there so they could see better.

Uh-huh. And you're here because?

Oh! Because I was gonna' tell you!

I'll pass. The meeting's a waste of time, anyways. I'm not quitting 'til the end, and it's my job to beat the crap out of anyone who does. Details just slow me down.

Okee-doke! I'll let them know!



Man, this is super easy. I wonder if the others are having this good of a time?



Okay. Calmly think through the actions you are about to take. Step one: deny the existence of the Abnormality. Oh, wait, no. Step one: shut the door.



The Mountain has assumed aggressive dance posture! Who just left ten people to die around here?!

Er… whoops.

…

Sorry. That was careless of me.



Tenebrais said she wants to punch anyone who doesn't agree with her.

...so what else is new?

Did she happen to mention what about, kid?

Umm… oh yeah! The thingy. With the time. She doesn't care and she's gonna do her job!

I will never understand how you got this position.

Well, there's that. Anyone else have any problems?

I don't trust that manager any further than I can throw him, but it's not like I can just stop teaching people how to do their jobs.

We're getting paid, so that's all I care about.

Hm. Given how reasonably we're all taking the revelation we've been reliving the last month and change for thousands of years, that disease of the mind thing might have already set in.

I just assume it's the Enkephalin! HAHAHAHAHA!

Sounds like we're all on the same page, then. Whatever crazy the Manager's on, it doesn't change anything with us.

Right. We're just going to Face the Fear, and Build the Future-like always!

_{Oh my god, I can't believe I just got that one, too. That's literally what we're doing. Oh, you are good past me, very, very good.}

Then it's agreed. Carry on like normal, no matter what comes. It's not like we could stop the loops otherwise.



Thou art Mine. Thou shouldst be doing as I say.

Thou shalt bite me.

Why dost thou refuse My guidance?!

'Cause you look bird enough to me.



Manager, I take it the day will be ending now?

Yeah. Let's wrap it all up and then I'll listen to all your complaints

Of course.



Whistle sounded five minutes ago, Talow. We should clear out.

Yeah, but... One more thing. There's… something you should know.

This is about that thing where we dated in one loop, huh?

What?! How did you-

You just told me.

But-that-!

I have to admit, I just thought it was some weird crush thing until the Manager was talking and you came through with that very nicely documented FAQ.

Robin knows her stuff. I just photocopied it.

She does. _{Trained her myself.} So anyways, since it's you I went for the stupidly dramatic option.

I'm not stupidly dramatic!



...I'm not!

I always got the sense that you're the sort of guy who hides behind layers of doesn't-care and pushes everyone away so they can pretend they're mysterious. And from what Bishop's said...

What's Bishop said?

...Sorry! All counseling information is private.

You did that on purpose.

Maybe. Weren't you going to ask me something?

Yeah, but you… but… ugh, fine. Do you wanna go out sometime?

We're all a bit busy for that right now, don't you think?

Yeah... I know. I just...

Thought that there'd be more time-I can imagine.



I'm gonna' head back to Training. I'm sure Elle's just swimming in reports on the newbies' Justice by now-she'll need the help sorting them out and figuring where to place their new number.

I don't care what they say about Mizu, you're still the most terrifying thing in this facility.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Oh, and… Talow?

I'm not coming to a counseling session. Never have, never will.

Then some free advice: Feeling like you have all the time in the world makes it really easy to stop doing anything-but now, you really don't know how long's left anymore. You may be learning it too late, but… make the most of every day you have.

...Yeah. I'll think about it.

See? Stupidly dramatic.

J-just go do your paperwork already!



How's everything holding up?

All's quiet, ma'am!

I'm still in shock. They mean to tell me that I've been playing the same game every day after work for thousands of years? Terrible. I've half a mind to have my attorney contact that manager and give him a piece of my mind!

...Mostly quiet. Ma'am.

We'll grab some free beer and complain after we're done here, then. I need a drink, head's hurting more than normal.



How's the cleanup going?

Terrible. I had to do all of it, since those two have been…

Take off your maan suuit..!

Well, it doesn't really work like that. This is actually carefully bioengineered to...

Aaww… What about a spaaceshiip..?

I parked that outside the city.

In the Ooutskiirts..? Aaww… it's definitely goone by noow…

Well well, seems she finally figured it out.

Wait, how'd you know?! My disguise was flawless!

C'mon, kid. "Fellow human?" You weren't exactly subtle.

...No one can find out.

Noo worries…. I will protect this secret with my liife..!

I don't even care, so long as you're doing your job.

Can I head out? I really need a beer.



Everyone's finally cleared out.

Thanks for hanging out in the hall and watching that new guy work with the cutie today, Chiral! It was super-de-duper helpful.

There wasn't really much to do. He was more than cautious enough to handle an Abnormality like that.

All the cuties here are super good like that.

Yeah… it's almost a shame that we'll be wrapping up soon. It's freaky, but I'll kind of miss this place.



Birds've been punished. Anyone else have anything?

Crippling anxiety about the future.

That'll pass once you start smashing stuff tomorrow.

We're all set over here.

…See ya. Heading elsewhere tomorrow.

Wait, you're leaving?

There's a new field to graze. My presence was requested.

Aww… we'll really miss you BICEPS.

The place won't be the same without you.

No problem. We've been one over on staff for a while now anyways. Just kick some ass.

Miss you too, everyone.



I feel a little bad... I just beat up some Amber Dawns and kept Punishing Bird busy while everyone else dealt with the hard stuff.

Hey, that's important work too. How about the rest of you?

Work went smoothly with the Mountain. I was sure to follow all the rules!

I managed to stay in there for 50 seconds or less the entire time, like the manual said.

I did good enough, I figure. Yin's not too bad.

That sounds wonderful. Good work today, everyone. Don't you think Hod?


...Hod?



There he is! The time wizard!

Never call me that again.

Did the notes go over well?

Yeah… thanks to you we got through the roughest part of the Q&A session no trouble.

Then why do you look so confused?

Oh, that was because I was talking to someone and… my god.

Huh?

I just realized... This is what it's like to be Bishop.



Dude… ouch.



Huu, that was a good day. See? I told you it'd be okay. Now, Angela, you were saying something?

...Angela? The silent treatment isn't like you.

Yesod, have you seen Angela? ...Yesod?

Malkuth? Tiphereth? Hello? Gebura, Chesed, respond.


Hokma? Netzach, you're just sleeping, right? Hod? Hod did you head off to grab a beer without me?



Binah? At this point I'd take you showing up. What's going on? Is my line dead?

Your equipment is working perfectly well.

Wait… that voice… you're-!

There's work to be done. The Architecture department won't fill itself.

Music: never frozen bottom flows


For endgame, I'm looking for Abnormalities which are easy to manage and simple to show off. My pick today is -61, a TETH Instinct trainer which has a very unique E.G.O gift which I plan to use.

There. Now, explain what's going on?

Hold on a second. I already told you the Architecture department won't fill itself, didn't I?



_{Of course there'd be two. One last department, might as well pull out all the stops, right?}

For the final department, we're back to 2 picks a day. In Architecture it's possible to hit the same Abnormality twice in a row so long as both picks happen for the same day, but we won't be doing that since it's certainly not intended.



Anyways, -69 is a funny meme number and also a nice Abnormality so we grab them.

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: We meet the tenth Sephirah. ensues.