Part 86: Day 39 - Story

Day 39: Story

Music: Beyond the Waves


Have you ever heard of the Nest? I hear they throw a festival every single day there. I wanna dance, Enoch. I wanna stomp my feet and let happiness take over my body.



But we aren’t allowed to go anywhere. Carmen just wants to keep us confined here.

She’s a good person. I hope you’ll open up to her soon.

I don’t want to get to know anyone else, all I want is to be with you.



There’s a lot of things that I’ve been mulling over for quite some time, and I thought I may find some answers for them here. Some of my thoughts may be so absurd that the answers to them might not exist at all. Or, even if the answers do exist, they might vanish too soon… But, in the process of searching for those answers, I will be able to cast off my shell. Then I can fly away at last, leaving my heavy body behind…

Sometimes, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know where you want to go, but promise that you’ll take me with you, Enoch.



Oh, A is here, so I guess we gotta go now. It’s gonna get dark and cold soon. Let’s head inside.

Yeah, soon… Soon cold days will come…



I made it my job to bring the children back home, to ease Carmen’s busy schedule. I see them. Those young kids running towards me. Those children who survived the Outskirts.

The two we saved.

Music: Strange Dream


I wanted to show Tiphereth how mature I became when he got back one day. But there was no end to the disappointment, and Tiphereth never got any better. I couldn’t stand the silence without an answer. So I thought. I thought that I’d rather…



But whenever I see Tiphereth’s empty smile, my heart feels as if it were being covered in dark ash, while shattered into millions of pieces. I knew Tiphereth could never go back to how he used to be. I was aware that we could never return to the happy days we spent together. But I was about to abandon Tiphereth just because it was too hard for me to endure… All while knowing that he was the one who suffered the most…



.............

We’re going to be late. Let’s get going, the sun will set soon. Please hurry, Lisa.



Tiphereth doesn’t remember his name anymore, but from time to time he calls me by my cast-off name. What did Tiphereth want out of all this, even after sacrificing himself? What was he waiting for, even when he was being discarded? Was it all worth it to him?



I’ve never, ever held any expectations in my life.







In summary: Enoch seems to have always been a little out there, and may have been aware that the experiment he wanted to partake in would probably kill him. Tiphereth, even now, isn't sure what he was hoping for. She confesses that she wanted to shut him down only because she couldn't bear it anymore, and resolves to believe that everything will be okay. With The Expectation for the Meaning of Existence acquired, our Seed of Light is finally halfway done.

And with that, we get another special Angela scene!

Music: Until Dawn


It was only recently that I found my answer. It is that I have to accept the pain as something I’ve borne from the beginning, then I can be set free. Manager, if you are suffering too, just take in the pain and accept it.



I know you want to keep pressing on in any way possible. You felt lost and scared of the present, so all you could do was blindly trace along the way through the dark. I admired such determination at first.



How long do you think you can keep this up? Will you ever make it to the end?

In summary: Angela reminds us we can stop trying to change things, and questions our resolve.

I'm going to assume that was the script talking and overlook it.

You are most generous, A.

Hardly. There's no point in hating you for doing what the founder told you.

...I see.

Is there anything else? Binah's paging me, and I'd love an excuse to put that off for an extra minute.

There is one more thing, A…

Music: story 3 ending


I questioned myself daily about the significance and the meaning of my creation. Then you handed me the script and gave me the answer. They say the narrator plays an important role in unraveling the plot. Well, thank you. It was so much fun reciting your script.



Sometimes I have these thoughts. What if this script is part of a play that’s missing its finale? Maybe you prepared a play that could never end, just so that you could tie me into this knot.



…….



In summary: about the script. Angela thanks us for giving it to her and showing her her reason for existence, before asking if we think those words are also part of the script or not.

...you're not going to tell me, are you.

You're correct.

Great. Definitely not gonna' be paranoid about this later. Let's just... go see what Binah wants.

Music: Into the Deep


It is only natural to find them a spectacle to see. There used to be times when I spent the whole day reading all the meaningless letters written there. These are also coffins. They’re death itself, and they represent the possibilities birth can bring at the same time. I have been guarding their coffins for countless years, carrying out consecrations for those who do not even have the privilege to depart for an afterlife. That is one of the few things I do here.

You see, if one spends a long, long enough time in this graveyard…



The sound of their words is black as pitch, it makes me feel as if I were being filled with nebulous, murky water. You must be starting to get bored, seeing that your eyes are drifting about this place. It isn’t often that I have guests here, and I’d feel bad to only show you these gravestones.



This employee once had his boundary collapsed. What’s your name?

It’s... Nathan.

This man had the task of extracting E.G.O. During extraction, he carelessly peeked into the Well, but by luck he survived. To minimize the price he had to pay for looking into the Well, he was given the maximum dose of Enkephalin. And so, he could barely return to work. However, once one looks through the crack of the boundary, they can never return to the world that they belonged to before.



Nathan, can you describe what you saw to the manager? The scenery you witnessed with your own eyes, but had to forget at all costs?

From within the tombstones… Inside them are… Those who sleep are… Sunken deep…

Those who are dreaming good dreams. At the same time, we call them the ‘Well’ in the speech of this place.

We have to dredge them up… and inject them… with Cogito…

Now remember, afterwards, what? What did you see?

The man… he… That… thing…

Continue.

The man… he… him… he…. h...h.. heeheeh….. in… in the Well……



>Why did he pass out?


Even though he wasn't able to complete his sentence, the way he kept trying to speak until he passed out should show you he pushed himself to the limit to obey me.

---

>What will happen to him after?


It is much more favorable to sit still and simply watch the grains fall as the sandcastle crumbles, rather than try to reclaim the collapsing castle.

---

Routes Merge Here


This time the choice doesn't matter.



It is thanks to my mechanical body that I can just barely grasp onto my mind. Yes, this strong, unbending back of mine. However, A. Did you forget that I originated from a human mind as well?



If there is at least one thing that could be considered fortunate… It is that if I ever were to finally lose my sanity and ran amok through the facility, attempting to bring this entire place down along with you. She will be there to shut me off once more. But if that day truly were to come, I would prefer that you terminated me with your own hands, rather than her.



In summary: Binah tells us more about the well, and makes clear that it's not something people can grasp while staying sane-by having a guy basically kill himself trying to tell us what happened. She then mentions that she stays sane-barely-because of her mechanical body… before challenging us to 1v1 her later if she ever snaps?



This is a cakewalk, isn't it? You have to know that Mizu has at least four of the things just from looking at her.

She does, but predicting if she will last to the end of the day or not is itself a way I pass the time.

She's one of our best agents. Why would she ever not?

Incompetent management, perhaps?

Or maybe a bitter old space heater decides to kill her for amusement?

A, you needn't think so highly of yourself. A person can never warm an entire room… no matter how brightly they think they shine.

...I'm starting to think you didn't take that how I meant it.

Take it as you like.



Back to Records, then?

Yeah. _{Frankly, I'm not too fond of either of these two.}

A, I'm so pleased to see you back so soon. I was worried I'd done something to offend.

Nothing like that, I'm just busy trying to open up this place.

Ah, yes… you've much to do. I understand that Tiphereth has been fixed?

Bingo. We'll be doing Chesed next. He's right above you, so try to make sure everyone's ready.

Of course. It's a shame not to be able to speak more, but I'll simply tug your ear later.

Yeah. See you then.

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Chesed tries to kill us because he's an AI and this is a rebellion.







Hey, Tenebrais, have you seen Boksi around?

No, why?

He's being weird. Dude just ran up to me and apologized for a bunch of stuff I half listened to, then ran off to say he had to find everyone else.

Abnormality possession?

Most likely.

I'll keep an eye out, then. It's my job, after all.

Tenebrais! There you are!

Hold it, mosshead!

Yes, that's exactly it. I've been acting like a mosshead, and I wanted to-

If you say another word you're going to need Safety to put you back together. I don't care about your stupid apologies.

Ah-I'm sorry! But I can't accept no for an answer-I simply must provide the apology you are due for the ways in which I have-

I said SHUT UP!

*CRUNCH*

GAH!

...dude, people walk on that floor.

Eh, disciplinary's red. It'll blend right in after a minute.

And the crater?

………...I'll figure something out for the crater.

Right. Good luck with that. If anyone asks, I saw nothing.

Right.

...I don't… quite think... I deserved... that…

Shut up. I have to get you up to Safety so they can diagnose whatever Abnormality's got you and fix it.

...gh…

Yeah, yeah. You'll thank me later.