Part 75: Day 34 - Story

Day 34: Story

Music: My Inspiration


Make yourself as comfortable as possible, so that your mind finds itself comfortable too. It tickles, no? But just wait. Now, fade away without a trace… Feel the water and air during the different seasons, inside a different dream and a different body, forgetting and remembering everything.



I don’t know what it is. But I’ve already left for somewhere long ago. Please don’t look for me, I will no longer be able to teach you.



Unusually, the screen fades to white instead of black for the transition here.

Music: Sentimental Moment


Music: malkuthDie, but with some really unpleasant ripping sound effects over top of it.


K-Kill… me…. Please k-kill me A…. I’m sorry…. I’m so sorry….

Fade to black, then:

Music: Dungeon - Sewer Crawler


The reception is good. Everyone thinks that it’s a new employment method that does not concentrate on just one’s abilities. The number of applicants is projected to meet the initial calculation. The experiments are almost complete.



I’ve also arranged a meeting with TimeTrack.

…Are you thinking about those who have left you?

In summary: X has a number of brief memories, from Carmen saying she's gone to Malkuth saying she's ready for Cogito (she wasn't ready) to Angela telling us about the preparations that have been completed before asking if X is reminiscing about those he's lost. Apparently the company's employment method is different from the other Wings, as well. It's probably nothing important.

Music: Alone


Apart from the fact that his condition is abnormal, his excessive questioning will affect the manager’s duties as well. Since this behavior is unacceptable under any circumstances, I’ll have to reset him to the default status now. Don’t worry, you’ll be alright. You are simply going back to your first day at the company.

But, Lady Angela… Tiphereth has spent so much time with me…



Tiphereth, Tiphereth, I’m sorry… Tiphereth…..

Why are you crying, Tiphereth?

I’m sorry, I couldn’t do anything for you…



Yeah…

In summary:

Every… time…

Tiphereth? Oh, you're going to storage again?

Yeah. I need to think.

Hmm… okay. Just make sure you don't do anything rash. I wouldn't want you to be reset.

Y-yeah…

Music: Frozen Moon


…

Manager, if it’s alright with you, could you pass my words along? Gebura, she’s… She’s strangely obsessed with suppression, wouldn’t you say? Any casualty to employees during the suppression process… she entirely disregards it.



Gebura’s great at handling the Abnormalities when they breach. It’s as if she was born for this job. So I suppose a few extra dead employees is considered a reasonable tradeoff. But you see, as a manager, you should know that massacring Abnormalities is not our only priority. Well, I dunno if Gebura will listen to you, but I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a go~



Be honest with me, I can see everything.

….



Don’t act as if you know everything. I’ve been here for a long time. I’ve seen much more than you have.

Music: Today is for Nothing




What does it mean to have a soul?

It means one may truly have worth. It’s the center of the faith our Venerable Lord A believes in. I participated in this experiment because I trust him.

I don’t know if I have a soul… If I’m disassembled, will there be a soul inside me?

Well, it can easily be determined just by talking with you. A soul cannot be seen, but it can be felt.



Fade to black as time passes.



Oh, meet Gilly, our daughter. She is kind and sweet, just like you.

Does this child also have a soul, then?

Of course. A soul is something every living creature has. It’s the essence of us all, yet not known to many. This world only believes in things that can be seen with the eye. It’s a sad belief that will eventually lead everyone to destruction.

Another fade to black.



That is what we call an Abnormality, Gebura.

How is it different from monsters?

Monsters are in themselves repulsive, terrible creatures at the core and start of their existence. However, Abnormalities originate from humans.



You see, Gebura, that's because Abnormalities originated from 'them'. It's not like they materialize all of a sudden or come into existence from nowhere.

Do Abnormalities eat humans? Is it mimicking Mr. Christopher like that because it devoured him? I don't understand.

That is a complicated thing to explain, Gebura.



Fade to black.

Music: triumph of the scratching demons


I don't know, Gebura. You know she isn't known for explaining the purpose of every experiment to us. I think I heard that it's to rigorously determine the “loss of humanity”, but I don't get what it really means.

That's definitely going to end up hurting Mrs. Isabel. I should tell Miss Angela to stop it.



…

Please, if you are feeling anger, I suggest that you rather embrace that anger and move on.



Music: Forgotten Entrance of Memories


Where did Christopher's wife and his daughter Gilly disappear to? I won't ever know, either. Hard to say if it's fortunate or unfortunate, but the experiment was not under my responsibility.



Most people wouldn't even talk to us, since machines weren't worth putting their minds to. But Christopher and Isabel, they told me I was worthy of something… They looked past my exterior and saw what was inside of me, something I wasn’t even aware of. Those monsters we’re obligated to call Abnormalities have killed many people since then.



It’s not fair. Why do we have to treat them nicely? Don’t pay any heed to the employees in front of you. When an Abnormality shows up, their lives will be the least of your worries. Since it’s clear that those monsters feel pain… I’ll dish out as much pain as possible. That’s the only reason why I’m standing here.



In summary: Gebura had some friends once-an entire family of them, even. This was rare, as most employees back then didn't talk to the robots at all. One was changed into an Abnormality. The other two probably wound up getting murdered by the Abnormality. As a result of this, Gebura decided that Abnormalities need to feel as much pain as possible.



...We only have two ALEPHs, though.

The birds count for this one. Just kill what they turn into.

We still don't have a plan.

Just make them hurt. That's all I care about. Don't chicken out on me now.

This mission. This mission is the first major sticking point after getting past the early game suppressions. Readers have probably noticed, but ALEPH Abnormalities tend to be kind of terrifying. Luckily for us, the Bird fight counts as enough separate ALEPH Abnormalities for this goal, letting us clear it by killing just the one Abnormality. If we can pull it off, anyways.



...mmnh.

Manager?

These memories are concerning… and not knowing anything about that bird is concerning. Then I'm surrounded by AI, and one of those memories was of the sun on my face, and of her, which…

It was uncomfortable?

Obscenely. I just… the more I think, the more my head feels like it's gonna' burst. I'd rather be managing, but I don't know anything about that Bird, and there's no other way to defeat three ALEPHs in a day.

Perhaps it would be best to do the mission another time.

Not an option. I'll just have to think of something…

Manager, I've got something.

Oh thank god. Please give me good news, Yesod.

I'm not sure how good the news is, but we have an ID on what happens if all three Birds happen to walk through the door. It was in the Codex and… well, nobody checks it very often. It's no wonder it took so long to locate.



On the main screen, there is a link to a Story review, and a second link to something called the Codex.

...So you wound up checking in the Codex, and found something there? Huh. Now that you mention it, I've never once opened the thing.



The Codex shows us all the Abnormalities we've fully researched, as well as gives us a completion % in the upper left corner. This percent does not include any of the D-type Abnormalities, it only counts the base game's content. Right now, it only shows Abnormalities that we have seen in our playthrough (since it's our first loop). However, either when we get all 3 birds or when we first call up the door (I'm not 100% sure which it is) an extra Abnormality is added to this page.



Tomorrow's opponent is Abnormality O-02-63, Apocalypse Bird.

Apocalypse Bird..?

The file isn't very clear, and there's some junk data, but it's the best we have.

I'll take a look.



We could have also seen this screen by trying to pull up the information window on any of the 3 Birds during the event, but there wasn't any reason to show it off yet. Ignore the work preferences, work damage, PE boxes and Observation Level bonuses-they were copied wholesale from a different Abnormality as we cannot work Apocalypse Bird.

New Guidelines

Apocalypse Bird

What the… So apparently it's invincible? As long as the three birds are doing… things? Great, I feel so much more confident now.

I'm sure it'll make more sense once we see the thing.

I hope so. I'll figure something out based on this. You stayed up all night finding this hint. I can't just leave you hanging.

Best of luck, manager.

Yeah, thanks. Go get yourself a coffee.

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: The Apocalypse.

New Story

Apocalypse Bird (Part 1)
Apocalypse Bird (Part 2)
Apocalypse Bird (Part 3)







_{There's nothing here today. Go read the Apocalypse Bird story.}