Part 77: Day 35 - Story

Day 35: Story

Music: story 3 ending


Based on your reaction, it seems that the synchronization is complete. I can now tell what moment you’re reminiscing about just by looking at your expression. I also happen to know that the process always ends with the same expression and tears.



You locked yourself inside this prison without bars. However, the key has always been in your hands. My role was to correct you whenever you made a wrong decision.



I don’t understand why you chose to repeat this cycle, nor do I know what kind of results you hope to achieve while slowly killing yourself. Frankly, I don’t really wish to know. But in this moment, while you hold the fragments of when you once were A…



Ah, I should change my greeting as well. It was getting tedious.

Music: op theme


I give you a warm welcome back to your Lobotomy Corporation.

*a loud beep as the scene fades to black*

In summary: X is actually A!

The game makes no real attempt to hide this from us and I think almost everyone in the thread figured it out well before now, so that's not really the important takeaway. Angela is very tired of all of the cycles, has no idea what our goal actually is, and just wants us to put an end to them.

Hey, manager?

Tiphereth? What's up?

I was wondering if you could talk now. That bet got me to thinking, and...

There isn't time just now. We have to speak with a business partner.

Right now? Ugh…

It is non-optional.

Alright. Sorry, Tiphereth. We'll talk ASAP.

...Sure.

Music: Crime Lord


Oh hey, a new character! Hello, new character.

This place is so grimy, it’s like a dungeon. I always get a bad vibe.

Please hold for a moment, Rabbit Captain. We need to explain what we’re doing here to the manager.

Oh, he still doesn’t know who I am? Go on and explain it quickly, then.



As was mentioned a few times prior, our company has initiated contracts with some of the other Wings for sustainable development and business opportunities. It is also my job to renew those contracts with our associate Wings when the moment arises. All that is needed from you is to be our token manager and present yourself in that role. I shall handle the rest of the formalities and procedures.



You may feel free to provide more detailed information at a later time in private, Myo. For now, let us start the meeting.

….Speaking of, would you be so kind as to remove your helmet? At least for the duration of the meeting.

You’re kidding! The helmet is the whole identity of the Rabbits!



This new lady is Myo. If it isn't already blindingly obvious, she's with that Rabbit Team whose research we got but completely ignored yesterday. You may also recognize her from the opening post of the LP.

I just gotta brief the content of the contract from my end, right? I mean…



She makes the best faces.

As I informed you prior, it’s part of the formal procedure. I myself have to specify whether or not you agree to the terms again.



Allow me to explain our services first. Company R will provide military support and protection from all external threats to Company L. Every branch of Lobotomy Corporation will be included under the term “Company L”, however there will be certain exceptions where a branch may not be considered under the designation.



Company L will provide the energy Company R needs to maintain its operation. This renewal process also includes a prerequisite that invokes a mutual and continual agreement between Company W and Company L. And, let’s see… Company L will provide all specialized ammunition utilized for the killing of Abnormalities. All Rabbit Team members will have their memories erased after the completion of their missions. There will be no questions or concerns raised about the peculiarity of the facilities or purposes of this location.



That should be everything. Look through the written contract for the finer details.

There has been no change in the agreement with Company W. Along with that, the renewal period will be 1 year, just as before.



On a side note, can you please do something about the teleporter to make the process a bit smoother? It feels like my body’s being taken apart piece by piece and thrown out a window.

I am afraid you will need to ask Company W about that. It’s out of our control. Hm, Gebura, why do you have such an expression?



You must really not know a thing if you’re looking down on the Rabbits! It’s already been concluded that the Rabbits are the most fit for the honorable task of slaughtering in this place. The Rhinos would most certainly smash this entire place beyond recognition. And the Reindeer, with the exception of the machines that work here, would cause irreversible damage to mister manager over there.



We always pay special attention to our client’s requests.

I’m not talking about your damn Rhinos or Deer! I’m saying that we can handle our own problems! We don’t need any outsiders to interfere.

What’s that? What can YOU do with that flimsy tin body of yours, huh? You seem much weaker than us now, can’t you see that?



But look at you now! As soon as you set foot into the Backstreets you’ll be torn limb from limb by those Sweepers. The old days when you shredded everything before you into a red mist is now lost to the past. Things have changed. You should realize that.



Please, everyone, we need to focus on the topic at hand. Gebura, our agreement with the Rabbit Team is to help us be prepared for the worst-case scenario that will be beyond our own abilities. I’m certain that you have learned this from your experiences with previous suppressions. The combat skills of the mercenaries sent to us by Company R are on par with those of the other Wings.

We can handle our problems on our own perfectly fine! I can prove it right here, right now if you want…



The reason I continue to contract the Rabbits is that the risk of involving outsiders pales to the potential of our worst-case scenarios. They’re worth every penny. However, the Rabbits will not intervene with general suppression. Please calm down and analyze the situation reasonably, Gebura.



That should be all for renewing our contract. Gebura is the one in charge of the basic suppression process. So if you need any advice or help regarding combat, just ask her.



...Nor do I have anything left to say to you filthy animals. You’ve done your business, how about you just bunnyhop away now?

Sheesh, you’re being so harsh to a fellow native of the Backstreets. You wouldn’t happen to be mad at me because I made fun of you earlier, are you?

Don’t act like you know me. I’m not in the mood for your stupid games, so just shut up.



You’re mad because you feel we interrupt your fight, aren't you?

Yeah, I don’t need any help from the likes of you.

Well, it’s not like we’re here for a greater cause or some ulterior motive. We just drop by quickly when we’re called, and vanish without a trace just the same when it’s time. I thought you were just like me, finding joy in the slaughter.



The best faces.

Music: Cryptic


…….

We are the Rabbits who hop around following orders to find fresh patches of grass, but you’re different. You used to know who you were supposed to fight, who your enemy was. You wouldn’t believe how shocked I was to find you. I never expected to see the fabled hero like… well, this. And in a drab basement too.



Music: UNKNOWN from G4


Suddenly, a flashback!



Probably, there won’t be any survivors left… Abnormalities aren’t something we can handle on our own… You’re in danger too, ma’am… You’d best escape now…



We’ll probably see each other again, but just in case, I want to say one thing… Please take good care of Isabel and my little Gilly while I’m gone.



What choice would they make when faced with such a situation? The experiments… seem to have yielded the expected results.

Excuse me, Lady Angela, what should I do with these? There’s a blanket and a few feeding bottles left.

I have gotten all the results I need from this experiment. The owners are no more, so you can simply discard them.





I really should be going. Whelp, I don’t think next we meet will be on such calm waters. The Rabbits will leave now.

And there goes Myo. She has no more lines in the main plot.

Music: Stop


I’m definitely not the hero. Never have been, and never will be…

In summary: We meet the captain of the Rabbit Team, Myo. She and Gebura have a history, and she taunts Gebura for losing a lot of her strength during our contract extension meeting. Gebura has some flashbacks to earlier in her life, and it turns out Angela sent an entire family to their deaths for



Our fourth Gebura mission is to kill a Midnight Ordeal. This requires getting very deep into a day, since they always spawn on the transition from 8 to 9. We'll have to handle another Dusk Ordeal along the way, of course.

...Well. Good meeting, then.

I'm going back to my department. Talk to you on the battlefield.

Yeah. I'm going to uh… go see what Tiphereth wants.

Music: Requiem


Sometimes, I spend my time here. It makes me think about a lot of things.

…......



He was seeing his own world that I will never come to know. We were always next to each other, but in reality, we were never truly together. Do you know that feeling of missing someone, even though they’re standing right beside you? I don’t care at all about the meaning or purpose of existence that Tiphereth talked about.



But this place won’t allow us to have even that small luxury. There are countless of Tiphereth’s dead bodies piled up here, can’t you see? I’m standing here stepping on their remains. Trampling over all the memories, reminiscences, and time that I spent with Tiphereth.



I sing the song of our hometown and mourn for Tiphereth even though this will never reach him. Care to join me?



Just reminiscing on old memories.

What memories?

The good old days, when we were together.

You’re right, we had lots of fun together.

….

Come back to me soon, Tiphereth. I’ll be reading the rest of the report.





Does that really matter, though? Tiphereth will continue to smile at you, and he’ll spend time with you just like before. Kindly refrain from bringing up such wasteful matters, Tiphereth. It’s completely meaningless here.



I don’t really like you. The new manager would always have some kind of influence on Tiphereth, and that would eventually lead to yet another breakdown. It will be the same, time and time again. We will discard Tiphereth again and again, and he will stray further and further from what he used to be.



For now, he can at least look normal and talk with me, pretending to feel nostalgia for the old memories that were forcefully added back. But he’s been getting more and more unstable, as a matter of fact. We’re basically pumping electricity into a machine that’s already teetering to keep it running. You can make as many copies as you want of his body, but he only has one soul.



………....

You, let me ask you a favor. You’ve been good at doing favors for me so far. You should be able to manage this one.



Angela would say that there’s a reason for the two of us working here together. She’d say that we are two, yet one. But I can handle the Central Command Department all by myself. I proved myself a long time ago.





In fact, Lady Angela doesn’t care about us at all! Whether there’s one Tiphereth or two, whether one just became a moving piece of useless scrap for whatever reason, or if one were overloaded and dumped on top of countless other discarded Tiphereth, left to melt in the storage, she wouldn’t care!





These children were one of the many end results of the countless conflicts among the Wings within the City. Aside from disease and hunger, the most frightening enemy for the children were the ones referred to as the ‘Sweepers’. The Sweepers usually preyed upon the children, but sometimes they would “accompany” them. Both were worst case scenarios for the children.

One Fixer of ours was exploring the Outskirts and came across those children. We could easily guess why she bothered to report her findings to us. We also figured that she had spent quite a bit of time agonizing over whether to report it or not.



To take two children into the City from the Outskirts required an extremely complicated procedure, but no one complained. The two children didn’t look like siblings, but they depended on each other even more so than siblings by blood do. The girl was easily frightened and wouldn’t open up very much to us. However, the boy started to show interest in our experiment. I saw it in his eyes.



“Please allow me to participate in the experiment,” he said. Carmen spent many nights thinking about his earnest request.





You should’ve been the one to die…

Yeah… I— I should have died…

Lisa’s vicious mumbling likely had no weight to it, but I knew one thing. I knew Carmen’s answer was sincere. Ever since that day, her wound quietly deepened.

Music: Boss Warning


In summary: Tiphereth asks us to let Tiphereth die forever and run the place by herself because she can't bear to watch him get reset over and over again. This leaves us speechless, and she goes off about how we're supposed to care even if Angela doesn't. We then remember Lisa and Enoch, and how Enoch died in an experiment, making Lisa say something that apparently cut Carmen deep.

...So it's a meltdown again, huh? Alright, let's fix her.

Not so fast, A. Right now, our facility is incapable of creating enough energy to handle it. We will need to wait a few days.

You're kidding me.

Do not worry. Tiphereth can pick up Tiphereth's slack, and I can handle anything which would be missed. Our efficiency will not drop from just this.

Right. Call the other Sephirot for a meeting then. I should at least make things clear.



...So, in conclusion, it turns out I am basically your founder.

Um… thank you for sharing, but...

We all figured that out a while ago!

Not that it wasn't obvious once we recalled our old selves…

As you'll recall, manager, that was the entire reason behind my breakdown in the first place.

Huh. Yeah, fair enough. I uh… just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page?

Consider me up to date, then~

That was it? _{What a damn waste of time…}

Manager? How come Tiphereth isn't here?

Oh, uh… She's in need of repair. It'll be a couple of days. Alright?

Alright, manager. I hope she gets better soon.

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: We fight a Midnight. How bad could it be?








Malkuth, I need to talk to you for a second.

Oh, sure Bishop. How can I help you?

I just wanted to ask you to hold on to something for me.

Wha? But this is… all of these are..?



My E.G.O gifts. Depending on how things go, I may not need them tomorrow.

Then... why are you giving them to me? They're only able to be used by the person they were given to, after all.

I thought that would be obvious.

Obvious? Mm...

...Oh! Because if you wind up needing them again, you want to make sure they're in good hands-and I'm the most trustworthy person you can entrust them to!

...Yeah, Malkuth. You got it in one.

Leave it to me! I won't let you down, Bishop.

Yeah, I know you won't.