______________________________________________________________
["However, the curse continues eternally, never broken."]
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Y/n's POV
The sound of someone knocking on my door woke me up. I rubbed my eyes to wear off the sleep as I stood up and walked towards the door.
I opened the door and looked at the guest, or guests, that were outside. All three of my lieutenants were outside waiting, Renold had a impatient look as he held a stack of papers, BongBong merely stared at me while Shina was dozing off herself.
"Greetings Y/n, I'm here to give you the reports regarding the recruits from yesterday."
Recruits? What recruits from yesterday?
"U-Um what? I don't remember any recruits, actually.....I don't remember much from yesterday..."
Renold raised an eyebrow while BongBong tried to get past me to my room. I stopped her by flicking her forehead which earned a small disheartened "Bong...".
"Are you feeling well? I did notice you were quite....different yesterday."
I opened my mouth to reassure him but stopped halfway since even I didn't know.
"Oh just leave him be already! Can we just go? I still gotta teach those agents from yesterday some more "discipline"~ hehehe."
Shina was off in her own world as she was making punches to an imaginary foe, though it looked sloppy as she was barely awake.
"....fine, though do take care of yourself Captain. Although I admit I may be a workaholic, even I wouldn't want to be your replacement should anything go wrong."
" *Chuckles* Alright then I guess."
With that, the man left after he passed the papers to me along with Shina who lazily talked to him while he ignored her. BongBong merely stared at me as if waiting for something.
"Shouldn't you be attending to your duties BongBong?"
"Bong. BongBong."
Her eyes barely shifted to look past me. I sighed before stepping to the side to let her walk into my room. After she entered I shut the door and merely placed the stack of papers on the table.
"If you're hungry you can eat some of my rations BongBong. I'm going to get myself ready for the day so give me a minute or two."
"BongBong!"
I checked the time to see it was 7:36, meaning I had plenty of time to prepare and get an early start on the papers Renold brought. Though I wondered why the alarm didn't go off at 7:00 like usually.
After a nice hot shower and getting dressed up in my suit, I left the bathroom to see BongBong with her cheeks swelled up like balloons. Multiple granola bar wrappers were scattered across the dining table and crumbs littered the area around her lips and table.
I merely chuckled before grabbing a napkin and walking up to her. She followed me with her eyes before tilting her head up to look at me. Every once in a while she would slowly chew the bars in her mouth.
"What did I say about eating too much at once BongBong? Look at the mess you made."
I wiped her face with the napkin, removing the crumbs as she simply stared at me as if she did nothing wrong.
" *sigh* Can you at least use a napkin to catch the crumbs before they litter my table?"
She nodded her head once before looking around my room, completely brushing me aside. She swayed left and right on her seat as she swung her legs back and forth much like a child.
Between Renold's serious work attitude, Shina's sadistic nature, and BongBong's childish personality, BongBong is the easiest to deal with.
BongBong suddenly got up and walked to my nightstand as I continued cleaning the table.
The sound of something rattling in a plastic container made me move my attention back to her. In BongBong's hand was a medicinal pill bottle as she looked at it curiously and shook it.
Maybe not the easiest to deal with.
"Hey! I don't think that's for you to touch!"
I walked up to her and tried to snatch it but she held a firm grip on it.
"Bong!"
With her other hand she shoved a piece of paper into my face.
"Ughh! BongBong! You didn't have to shove it into my face you know!"
"Bong...."
"I'm not mad, okay? I was just worried that you could've been messing with something important. Now sit on the bed and let me see what this is all about."
She complied after a good headpat and dropped the container into my hands along with the paper as she sat on my bed. She then started to play with the blankets and wrapped herself in a blanket burrito with her head out looking at me.
I ignored her, since I didn't want to die from cuteness, and straightened out the paper.
"Now let's see...."
________________________________________
If you experience any more headaches, then please take one pill at the end of each day before bed. It should help with the pain and if you ever are in need of more, notify me immediately.
—The Perfect AI, Angela
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I raised an eyebrow.
"Headaches? I don't remember having headaches. Actually, I don't remember much of yesterday. Hey BongBong?"
"Bong?"
"What exactly happened yesterday?"
"BongBong, Bong! Bong.....BongBong!"
"I see, so I guess I really did have a headache. Though it doesn't explain why I can't remember what happened yesterday."
I eyed the pills suspiciously.
"Yeah, I'm not taking these."
I chucked them into my nightstand drawer as I sat down and started doing work. I wouldn't throw them away until I figured out what exactly they did. Whether Angela actually gave them to me or not was also up for debate. I'll just confirm it when I see her next time, though how I'll test out what they do is still unknown.
BongBong continued to wiggle and move on the bed making a creaking sound whenever she did so. It was only a few minutes when she got bored of whatever she was doing and got up from the bed to sit on the chair besides me.
I gave a quick glance at her from the corner of my eye as I continued writing. She just sat there and swayed from side to side.
*screech screech*
I turned to face the noise and saw BongBong still siting on the chair, except she was a few inches closer. I turned back to my work, she would have to wait until after I finish this to get my attention.
*screech screech*
I swiftly turned to look at her. She was now close enough to be leaning on me as she threw a couple of glances at me. I gave her a flat unamused look before I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Come here."
I pushed myself and my chair a bit away from the table making some space for her. She quickly got up and sat on my lap, her head just barely blocking my view from the table.
"Can you move a bit to the left? I need to finish these papers for the Manager before the day-shift starts."
"Bong!"
*Sigh*
Yup, this was going to be a long day.
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X's POV
The high pitch screech of the alarm clock brought me back from my less than pleasant sleep. I stiffly rose my upper body and got out of bed before slapping my palm on the snooze of the screeching device.
My limbs felt stiff as I stretched and caused a few pops to sound from my back. I steadily went to the nearby light switch and closed my eyes as I turned on the lights and opened them after a few seconds.
*Grumble*
I squeezed my stomach with my hand, it seemed my body just now remembered that I didn't eat anything at all yesterday. Still in my sleeping wear that consisted of yesterday's dress shirt and pants, I slowly made my way to the small fridge near the desk. The contents were less than what I expected, only a couple of fruits and a few bottles of what seemed to be alcohol.
Taking the apple, I leaned against the desk as I bit into it and eyed the papers on the desk. It was only my first day and I already had tons of work to do, though most of what I skimmed through was basically a manual of how to do what.
Finishing the apple, I threw away it's core before washing my hands and getting dressed. My wardrobe consisted of black dress shirts, black dress pants, and lab coats....and only that. I didn't know if the previous Managers wore this as well or if it was just the standard here, but it didn't seem to match the environment here.
In fact, I noticed that nobody wore any body protection. You would think that the employees here would be equipped with some form of defensive equipment when the whole point was interacting with beings that could kill you with one look. At least that's what Angela mentioned regarding how some of them can be.
But back to the point, the other staff were only wearing formal business suits.....which provided no protection at all! I will have to unfortunately ask Angela regarding the staff's equipment if it's not already mentioned in the stack of documents on my desk. But with the time being 7:45, there was only 15 minutes left until my job starts.
Breathing out a tired sigh, I organized my desk and pulled out the manual book that Angela had given me at the end of yesterday. I began reading it in hopes of finding some useful information but from what I skimmed through, most of it was regarding the workings of the facility that I had yet to have access to.
*Knock Knock Knock*
I got up and walked towards the door before opening it. With this being the highest floor in the facility and only a select few having access to it, there was only one other person who I could expect to be just outside the door.
Of course, it was Angela.
"Good morning Manager."
I didn't bother giving a reply and simply stared at her.
"I had came here with the intention of waking you up for the day, but alas it seems that you have already awoken. Since that is the case, let us be on our way."
She didn't wait for me to reply and had already turned to walk towards the elevator. I slowly came up to speed with her as we walked in silence. I was starting to appreciate it as I closed my eyes and walked, following the sound of her footsteps that resonated within the hall. For some reason, closing my eyes and taking in the quiet environment seemed to calm me somehow. Though it was quickly whisked away when Angela began to speak.
"Face the Fear, Build the Future. It's the motto from our founder whom we call 'A'."
I opened my eyes and glanced at her. She continued her stride with her closed eyes and neutral expression.
"Which part of the motto do you prefer?"
We reached the elevator as she clicked the button and turned towards me.
"Face the Fear" or "Build the Future"...it was something that many would debate on if asked. Of course the most obvious choice that many would choose would be "Face the Fear", however, actually doing it would be another thing entirely.
When faced with the thing one fears the most, a fight or flight response is bound to trigger. In most cases, fleeing is the more tempting decision, which is why many would choose the "Face the Fear" option.
To overcome what could possibly bring them down.
But would you need to face the fear in order to build the future? Or would you build the future in hopes of being able to face the fear?
If facing the fear causes you to lose the ability to build the future, would it even be worth it? It may make someone seem cowardly to choose the option "Build the Future", but in the end isn't that what everyone is striving for? Their future?
I didn't even know which was worse, facing your fear in hopes of getting a future you may never have, or building your future to only have your fears tear it away.
In the end, I made my choice.
"Face the Fear."
I would much rather give my all to a future that may or may not even exist than watch as everything I worked for be ripped away from my very eyes.
I then realized that my usual rigid and cold voice was filled with so much determination that it even surprised me.
Angela stayed silent before seemingly turning back to the elevator that had yet to arrive.
"Lobotomy Corporation is the first to have ever discovered Abnormalities here on Earth. However, the discoveries we made so far are merely the tip of iceberg. These Abnormalities have been here since the beginning, we only recently 'noticed' their presence."
'From the beginning? What did she mean by that?'
But before I could voice out my questions the elevator arrived.
We both entered an unnerving silence that I couldn't break.
After what seemed like years, the elevator finally arrived at its destination. Following Angela, she began speaking again.
"There was some confusion yesterday regarding certain things. I am in charge of the security of your office and you as a person, but it seemed that I failed to take in account what could've happened upon your first day in the meeting room."
That certainty didn't raise any alarms in my head.....it completely obliterated them. IT was in charge of my security and personal safety. An AI she may be, but that didn't alleviate any of my uncertainty that she would go to the extremes to do her job. That is if she even does it to begin with.
"Of course, I am talking about the employee who made a fuss yesterday, who you personally 'resigned'. Good job."
Angela then looked at me from the corner of her slightly opened eyes.
"I hope you know what it means to 'resign' here in the company."
I don't think she was talking about the regular form of resigning at this point. If I knew there was some hidden meaning to the word 'resign' then I wouldn't have done it.
"....."
"I'll take that that as a 'No'. Though it is partially my fault, as I do tend to miscalculate what information I should be delivering to you and what I shouldn't. Let me explain what exactly it in-tells. Before I begin however, there may be some aspects regarding this company that may shock you, to those working here already, however, we already consider it natural and obvious."
I was not liking this one bit.
"In this company, we have a variety of roles here. Each person is an actor with roles that they must fulfill without any errors. An easier way to explain it would be to think of it as a well-structured play. Now imagine one of the actors left the stage simply because they didn't like their role. The actor should have played their predetermined part at the predetermined time before making their exit."
I didn't need all this fancy talk to understand the point she's trying to make....Damnit.
"But to leave the stage without fulfilling their part means that the life of the role and its actor are finished. That is what we mean when we say someone 'resigns'."
I gritted my teeth and stared straight ahead. The first death under my management was done by my own hands.
Neither of us said a word until we reached the room of the Control Team. Although I was confused, I didn't question it and merely followed her.
Malkuth was standing there while writing in her clip board. She noticed us walking towards her quickly closed the distance.
"Manager! Great job! You did exactly what I asked of you!"
I stared at her confused. Asked of me? I don't remember her asking me to do anything.
Angela seemed to notice my confusion as she turned to Malkuth.
"It seems you once again failed to complete a simple task, Malkuth."
"Oh, ehehehe, I guess it was a slip up of mine! Don't worry, it won't happen again! Still I knew you could do it Manager!"
She continued to smile as if I knew what she was talking about.
"You'll never guess how much I rooted for you. Though as for me, we covered a joint emergency-protocol drill and it went alright! Not a single dropout or injury!"
What? I never heard of this. When exactly did she do this because it certainly wasn't when I was managing during the day-shift.
"It could've been better as it was far from perfect, but you'll see for yourself in the reports I've sent to your office, Manager."
I could only dumbly nod as she rambled on until her sudden shift in personality caught my attention. Her eyes looked distant and her smile turned flat.
"By the way, Manager, have you seen something creepier than the Abnormalities?"
"I....can't say that I have, I've only just started after all."
She ignored me and simply continued, as if an invisible audience was listening to her.
"Those entities that wander the facility, unable to be contained. And sometimes, they manifest themselves in the corridors."
I was starting to get creeped out myself, Angela didn't seem to be trying to stop her either.
"The drills do no good when you encounter them, since we don't have enough data on them. So we always have to stay alert. No matter how meticulous our plan is, we can't control the unknown."
The air suddenly became colder and even eerie as she turned to actually stare at me rather than whatever it was before.
"Sometimes, when I encounter them, I get a strange feeling. It's not like fear of anything....Some other sensation. Strange isn't it? I feel nauseous, like something within me is palpitating out of control, and it feels..... like I'm no longer myself...."
I wanted to turn away, the look she was giving me was sending chills to my spine. The silence that surrounded us was suffocating now as she continued to stare at me with those eyes I've been beginning to hate.
"How could I describe it? Like something's wriggling inside of me..."
'Stop it! Stop whatever you are doing!'
My breathing was becoming shallower and more sharp.
"Little.....by little..."
Her eyes seemed to suddenly brighten as she blinked for the first time causing me to finally calm down as well. The atmosphere from before dissolved like an illusion.
"But that's only for a few seconds! Because then something else happens! A warm feeling spreads through my body and I feel like myself again. I have yet to find out what causes it but it doesn't stop me from trying!"
She suddenly smiled and seemed to be reminiscing something pleasant as her face flushed a bit. It seemed that now was the time Angela would choose to cut in, much to my displeasure.
"It seems the day-shift is about to begin. Let us be off now, Manager."
I nodded my head at her and turned around.
"I know you'll do just fine today as well, Manager!"
I turned and gave a single wave before entering the same elevator as before.
It felt like an eternity, but we finally reached my office. I stiffly and quickly sat on my chair and rubbed the bridge of my nose. The day had yet to officially begin and I had already dealt with multiple burdens.
Angela stood by the side of my desk instead of sitting at her own desk which confused me greatly. I was about to just start the day when suddenly the knocking at my office door caused me to pause.
A few moments of silence were made before the person knocked again. I realized that Angela and the person outside were waiting for my permission. I mentally clicked my tongue at how obvious it was and yet I still had missed it.
"Come in."
Upon getting permission, the door opened and in came Y/n holding a stack of papers under his armpit as he had his hands in his pockets.
Instead of a chibi, cartoonish version of him, however, it seemed as if the cognitive filter lessened and revealed his semi-real appearance.
"Good morning, Manager!"
"...Good morning."
Despite how he seemed and presented himself, I couldn't get myself to ignore that feeling of wrongness whenever we met eye to eye.
"Just came by to drop some papers for you. Oh! And I've got some news you'll like to hear."
To be honest, any news would be just adding more to my shoulders at this point.
"You got 2 more employees put under your care!"
And just like that, more responsibilities have been placed onto me. Y/n walked up to the desk and handed me 2 documents.
"The first one is Dana, a new recruit who was able to complete the training regime in a single day! The second one is Mike, he had good results and was pretty determined to get to work unlike the rest. Though please do keep in mind that he has a prosthetic leg."
I nodded my head and looked at the 2 documents. Dana was a woman around the age of 25 and had brown hair. Her background was that she's Fixer of the Backstreets before deciding to work here. Mike, age 20, was a Fixer as well but was forced to look for a new job elsewhere due to his injury.
"Along with the new employees, you've received a total of 3 sets of EGO equipment for your agents. The EGO equipment was crafted from the PE-Boxes you collected yesterday from One Sin!"
He handed me another document which showed the equipments' look and capabilities. Roxie, Dana, and Mike were all given this equipment since they were my only agents. So this basically answered my earlier questions regarding equipment for employees.
As I continued reading the documents, Angela turned her attention to Y/n.
"Y/n, how are you feeling? Any persisting headaches or pain?"
I listened in on them, not like it wasn't hard as they were speaking pretty close.
"I was planning on asking you about that actually. Though I did wake up feeling refreshed and healthy, I can't actually remember much of yesterday. Did I really have a headache? I don't think such a thing would require anything but rest."
'What? He couldn't remember anything? Isn't that the same for me as well? Is memory loss such a common thing around here?'
"Though it is unfortunate that you do not remember, it is true that you were periodically showing signs of mental pain. It was to the point that you had personally came to me for assistance regarding treatment. I believe I had left you a note and the prescription near your desk."
"Ah! Yeah, I do remember seeing that! Though I just had to make sure, you never know, right?"
"Indeed."
"Well, I'll just leave these documents with you then since the Manager will be busy for the rest of the day."
I looked up as Y/n gave the documents to Angela. The most notable thing? One: she actually had her eyes fully open as she stared at the man. Two: she stiffened when their fingers touched when he handed her the documents.
"Thanks for everything, Angela! Even if I don't remember it!"
And three: she smiled a genuine smile. At least the most genuine I've seen her be.
"Your welcome, Y/n. Let us both do our best in our roles like always."
He gave her a smile and nod as he left.
Just as the door closed, her smile dropped and her eyes closed. She then walked to her desk before working on her monitors, not even once acknowledging my presence.
I myself had barely acknowledged what I saw in front of me.
AIs having emotion? For some reason that idea caused me to feel a small hint of anger and resentment.
They couldn't have the capacity to do so.
The image and scene of Malkuth from earlier today was hanging in the back of my mind. I shut my eyes and simply breathed out as I quickly put those memories away.
'Machines are just machines.'
That single phrase gave the strength to open my eyes and click the button to begin the day.
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Mike's POV
The intercom came on and announced the start of the day-shift. I quickly attached the weird looking weapon with a skull and cross to the side of my hip. The armor that came with it was comforting at least and didn't cause discomfort for my prosthetic limb.
Checking the device on my wrist to see where I need to go, I walked out of my room and into the halls. The directions led me upstairs and into a large room that many clerks were walking in and out of.
The training yesterday was pretty helpful in filling us in on what to expect here, but it still didn't make me feel any less nervous and scared. I get a feeling that whatever happens in this company is asking far more than what I've been doing as a Fixer.
Upon entering, I noticed 2 other people wearing similar armor as me. Meaning they were probably the agents I would be working with. Both were women in their mid-twenties with one having green hair and the other brown. The brown haired woman was animatedly speaking to the other who listened patiently. Deciding to build up a good first impression, I went to grab some coffee for all 3 of us.
The coffee didn't take long, and since I didn't know how much sugar they wanted I put a couple into my pocket as I arrived at their table.
"Hey, I guess you 2 are going to be who I'm working with from now on?"
The brown haired girl turned towards me.
"Oh, hey! Yeah, I guess so! Is that coffee for us?"
"Yeah, thought we could all use something to freshen up before our first day together."
"Oooo, thanks!"
I handed her and the green haired woman the cups of coffee. Though it was weird how the green haired woman didn't speak at all or opened her eyes to look at me. Thinking too much about it, I forgot to mentioned that it had no sugar at all.
"W-wait!"
Too late, they already drank it.
"BLUUGHH! Black coffee?! Disgusting!"
Surprisingly the other woman simply drank it without complaint or sign of disgust.
"I forgot to mention that the sugar is in my pocket, hehehe. Here have some."
I pulled out the 7 packets I managed to stuff in my pocket.
"OOOOOO, GIMME GIMME!"
She reached for them with both hands and grabbed 5 of them.
"Uuhhh, would you like some?"
I asked the green haired girl, who somehow knew I was talking to her as she shook her head.
"Well, alright then."
The 3 of us drank our coffee as we converse with one another... well more like me and the newly introduced Dana. Roxie, the silent one, simply nodded her head or listened patiently to the both of us. Though I didn't learn much about Roxie, much like Dana, I learned a lot about Dana who was very outspoken and friendly.
Much like me, she was a Fixer before coming here due to certain circumstances. And just like me, it was a touchy subject for why we chose to come here.
Soon, Roxie was alerted and the first to go work on a task assigned by the Manager. The devices on our wrists are extremely helpful, makes me wonder why we even need the radios on our hips.
Only a few minutes after Roxie had come back, Dana was sent to work. I tried to speak with Roxie about anything that came to my mind, but it felt like I was talking to my self. Thankfully, my wrist device buzzed to life just as the atmosphere was getting awkward.
"Hehehe.....I'll just be on my way then...."
Roxie simply nodded her head at me like always.
'Yeah, someone needs to get her a dry erase board and marker because I don't think I can understand her.'
Shaking my head from such thoughts, I checked my wrist and looked at what I needed to do.
"Hmmm, attachment work with F-02-44...attachment was when we needed to talk to them right?"
I asked myself as I checked my memory for the lessons taught yesterday in the Training Department.
I arrived at the containment for F-02-44, there wasn't anything on the panel near the entrance so it meant I would be the first to ever work with whatever was inside. I grabbed a clipboard and paper and entered the room.
The room was the standard containment design that we were shown yesterday in training. The only thing that was different was the...."thing" that was currently staring at me with its many eyes. I slightly recoiled from the appearance it had.
"What in the fuck are you?"
The "thing" simply gargled and made smacking sound with its mouth. And they expect me to talk to this thing? The Manager is out of his mind.
"Uuuhhh, okay then. Well, how are you?"
"..."
"Nice day, isn't it?"
"....."
Good thing they told us that whatever we write in our observations can be as crude and honest as possible. Because at he moment all I'm writing is how boring and weird this thing is. It doesn't respond except with a few gargles and slowly moving from its spot of the room.
"Can you understand me? Like at all?"
"..."
"Okay...this is as boring as fuck as you are ugly."
I scribbled some notes regarding how it acts and looks before the intercom rang and the door behind me unlocked.
"3 PE-Boxes Acquired"
As soon as I left the room, I didn't realized just how tired I was as I stumbled back into the main room of the Control Team. I took my previous seat next to Dana, it seemed Roxie was out on a task again.
"Wow! You look terrible!"
"Really? Because just a minute ago I was just fine. Now I feel like shit."
"What did you do?"
"Here take a look, I'm too tired to explain."
I slide the clipboard I brought with me towards her before slamming my head against the cool table. It was refreshing, though now I wish I had a cup of coffee to balance it out.
"Beauty and the Beast? Why'd you name it that? Doesn't sound like a beautiful creature if your descriptions true."
"What?"
I lifted my head and grabbed the clipboard back. And true enough, there in the "Name" section I had wrote "Beauty and the Beast".
"Weird.....I don't remember writing that at all."
"Maybe you were too tired to have noticed that you did? You did seem kind of out of it when you came back, though you're much better now."
"Maybe....anyways what did you do?"
She grabbed my clipboard from me and gained a thoughtful look as she pondered a bit.
"Nothing much really. I did talk to a floating skull though! Never thought I'd ever talk to one in my life, ahahaha!"
"Wait, really? What did it say?"
She raised her head to look at me.
"It didn't say anything, it's a skull silly!"
Okay...she got me there.
"Though there was some holy music and choir singing within the room. They didn't respond to me when I complimented them either, just so you know."
"Rrrriiigghht....."
Yeah, this place is officially going to be the death of me. Dana, however, seemed to have adjusted quickly.
*Buzz*
Her wrist vibrated to indicate another assignment.
"Oh! Hey look, it's the same one as you did. And it's even called "Beauty and the Beast" now! Does that mean the Manager is listening in on us?"
"I sure hope fucking not. The last thing I need is some higher up breathing down my neck as I work with these things."
"True.....anyways gotta go!"
She jogged her way out of the room, leaving me alone with the clerks diligently working. I was just about to begrudgingly get up and get myself some coffee when a man I've only seen once sat in Dana's spot with 2 cups of coffee.
"You look like you could use something to freshen up."
"H-Huh? Oh, thanks man."
I grabbed the coffee and sipped it as I tried to remember who he was.
'Hmm, black hair, gray eyes, black tie, a four-pointed star badge,....was it Renold? No wait, that was the red haired dude. Y/n?'
I didn't want to make things awkward by guessing his name wrong, but I took the gamble.
"So.....Y/n?"
Luckily, I was correct.
"Mhm, that's me! Need something?"
"Nah, just wanted to know who's keeping me company."
"I understand, you sure did look like you need some though."
We both chuckled and drank our coffee as we enjoyed the music playing over the intercom. Y/n then noticed the clipboard on the table and leaned over to pick it up.
" *whistle* New Abnormality and it's your first day? Talk about some bad luck."
"Yeah, let me tell you, that thing was the most ugliest thing I've ever seen!"
"Hahaha, well you might want to get used to that sort of thing if you wanna keep working here for long enough."
Okay.....that wasn't ominous at all! Yup, totally making me feel that I don't want to die already!
"....God dammit."
"Now, now, let's move on to a different topic. How about you tell me about yourself? I know they tell you to draw the line whenever you interact with others, but honestly might as well enjoy your life to the fullest. You never know when someone's last day could be."
That's true...I guess it isn't that much different from being a Fixer.
"What would you like to know then? I don't know where to start."
"Well simple, how about starting from the start? Or maybe how you lost that leg of yours?"
"U-Uh, that's kinda of... a sour spot for me."
"Really? Are you scared or just shy to tell me?"
"Well, one: it's personal, two: I'm not scared....I'm just... I don't know."
"Hey, it's fine. It's your personal stuff I won't pry anymore. Just curious, and you did say you didn't know where to start so I merely offered a solution."
"True, sorry."
He gave me a small smile.
"Apology accepted. But enough of that sad stuff, come on man! I'm boring myself with all this paper I gotta do, so the least you can do is share some stuff."
I thought for a moment.
'I guess it wouldn't be too bad to start off when I first became a Fixer.'
"Okay. Let me tell you my very first experience being a Fixer."
——————————————————————————
Dana's POV
I walked down the hallway leading to "Beauty and the Beast". I've gotta come up with a nickname for it, thats way too long.
Checking my watch to double check the assignment, I grimaced when I saw the words "Repression". In yesterday's training, they explained that Repression work was, in the simplest, denying the existence of an Abnormality. They would fall into several categories, the most common was physical.
The issue wasn't the work itself, but the effects it could cause.
'What if I accidentally kill it? Would they punish me for destroying their asset? What if it retaliates?! There are barely any workers here that seem to be able to stop an Abnormality!'
Doubt filled my head as I arrived at the containment room. Much like One Sin, the name board where the old name was, was replaced with "Beauty and the Beast".
I unhooked the weird skull looking weapon from One Sin and took in a deep breath. Only when I breathed out did I open the door and entered.
The door shut and locked itself behind me as I looked at the thing in front of me.
True to Mike's words, the thing was hideous and made me feel nauseous. It's many eyes turned to stare at me while it's body slowly walked back and forth in the corner.
I steeled myself and walked towards it.
Only when I was a few feet away did I raise my weapon and swung at its head. A loud thud was heard as the creature's head banged against the floor before getting back up. Some bodily fluids dripped from its head injury and onto the floor.
"Just think of it as a stress reliever, Dana. Just a stress reliever."
I mentally blocked out its pained gurgles and moaning as I continued my work.
"11 PE-Boxes Acquired"
Only when I heard the intercom announce my results did I stop and tiredly walk out of the room. Not once looking back at what I had done.
——————————————————————————
3rd POV
Y/n and Mike had been talking with one another for 5 minutes before Malkuth had called for Y/n. He said his goodbyes to Mike and left to work side by side with Malkuth, who was far ecstatic about it.
At this time Dana had tiredly walked in and sat in front of Mike, Roxie had yet to be come back from her work.
Mike noticed her less expressive change and how her armor was soaked in a greenish black liquid.
"U-Uh you good? The fuck happened to you?"
Dana slowly raised her head to look at him.
"I don't know."
She didn't respond anymore after that, even when Roxie had come back from whatever she was doing.
*Buzz*
Mike was tasked with "Beauty and the Beast" again, this time with insight work. He didn't want to leave Dana like that, but then he remembered Y/n's words and advice. How he should know when to draw the line but also know when to cross it. The situation now was one where he had to draw it, it wasn't his business how and what Dana had done.
"Let's just get this over with."
Mike checked the panel to see any new information regarding "Beauty and the Beast". He didn't see anything new aside from the high PE-Box amount from Repression work. Not trying to waste anymore time, he grabbed a rag, mop and bucket of water from the closet and walked into the room.
He was prepared to see the same disgusting creature, but he wasn't prepared for this.
It was disgusting alright, the way it's limbs were bruised and bleeding. How the floor was stained in its fluids and was accumulating all around it. How it's many eyes were now oozing bubbles and were mush.
"What the hell!"
He gulped down the vomit he almost leaked out, but covered his mouth before any excess could leave. Mike dropped the mop from his hands and bucket, resulting in the creature flinching and starting to twitch.
"Fucking hell!"
He tried to leave but realized that the door was long locked.
"Dammit!"
He tried to calm his nerves by thinking about the advice Y/n gave him.
"Face the Fear. Face the Fear. Face the Fear. Face the Fear."
Mike repeated the phrase that Y/n mentioned to him regarding work here, fortunately it seemed to help him calm his nerves. He reached down and grabbed the mop and bucket. Luckily the bucket didn't spill over.
It was only a few minutes before all the fluid on the ground was cleaned. All that was left was the creature itself.
He pulled out the rag that he drenched before hand and started to slowly rub off the oozing liquid from its face. Surprisingly, the creatures eyes were somehow brand new after he wiped them away.
The cleaning of the creature was done in minutes and the intercom came to life much to Mike's pleasure.
"9 PE-Boxes Acquired"
Just as Mike was about to leave, he felt something touch his hair. He turned and faced the creature only to find it in the corner, no where near him. He shrugged it off and walked out only to notice in the reflection of the wall that he had something in his hair, similar to things on "Beauty and the Beast's" horns.
He didn't know why but he didn't feel like taking it off.
"Announcement in progress:
The day-shift has ended,
thank you for your hard work."
——————————————————————————
Y/n's POV
I looked up as soon as the announcement came. I neatly stacked the papers that I was working on together and tried to get up. Tried, because as soon as I was about to, Malkuth latched her hand onto the coat of my suit causing me to turn and face her.
"Where do you think you are going? The paperwork have yet to be finished."
"I'm pretty sure once the day-shift ends, I'm no longer required to do paperwork, Malkuth."
She then turned to face me and gave me a closed eye smile.
"It's only a few more. Surely you aren't that tired, are you Y/n?"
Yup, I wasn't going to get out of this one with her bone crushing grip on me.
".....fine Malkuth. But only a few more documents, okay? The rest we can fill it out tomorrow."
"YES!! Alright then, let's do our best to get as many filled out as we can!"
"Sure, sure."
As the day-shift clerks left, I waved goodbye to the passing Roxie, Dana, and Mike who all waved back as well. Malkuth decided to shove some documents in my face, much like a certain someone earlier today.
"You okay?"
"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be!?"
"Well for starters that pout on your face is one thing."
She turned away and puffed her cheeks.
"Two: you've been pretty pushy with me helping you."
"Well of course! You've been getting distracted with the new employees! I'll take care of them myself, all you have to do is focus on the work we need to do together."
I dryly chuckled at her weird logic.
"Malkuth...you realize it's my job to watch over them whenever I work at a Sephirah's Department, right?"
".....obviously..." she stated a little uncertain.
So she forgot again... Well it doesn't matter.
"Okay, okay. Let's just finish up."
I gave her the usual pat on the head that she constantly asks for at the end of the day. Good thing BongBong hasn't noticed I haven't been giving her daily dose of head pats lately.
"Ehehehehe~....Wait! You know you're only supposed to do that when I do a good job! I haven't finished yet so hold off on it for now!"
She moved out of range of my hand and held a scolding gaze towards me.
"Sorry, I forgot."
She nodded her head before going back to work. Following her example, I did the same and soon after 32 minutes of overtime, we finished a good portion of the stack.
"And done! Let's go get some well deserved rest!"
Malkuth didn't say anything and merely closed her eyes and smiled expectantly as she leaned her head towards me.
"Yeah, yeah."
I rubbed her head a bit.
"Good job Malkuth. I'm proud of you."
She stiffened, she always does that whenever I say that. Though she's the one who told me to say that whenever I do this.
"..."
She became sheepish and seemed to want to say something.
"Malkuth? What's wrong?"
"H-Huh? Oh nothing! Just.....thinking I guess."
"About?"
"....Hey, Y/n?"
I raised an eyebrow at her sudden quiet voice.
"Could you help me test something out?"
Okay, that was a weird thing to ask, but not like anything could go wrong aside from a small accident.
"Sure, what do you have in mind?"
"....could you hug me for a bit?"
"Just that?"
She nodded her head and avoided my eyes.
"Sure."
I leaned in and hugged her from the side. She didn't seem to be returning the hug and merely basked in the feeling.
"Just like I thought....."
"Like what? What did you think about?"
I guess she didn't expect me to hear her, or maybe she spoke out her thoughts on accident because she became flustered.
"O-Oh n-nothing!"
Mhmm, yeah sure. That blush is sure helping you. I was planning on teasing her a bit but the sound of someone clearing their throat caused me to freeze in place. Why? Because it sounded like it came from a very irritated AI, who was probably waiting for me to report to her at the end of today.
"It seems that you've decided to ignore my warnings about being close with your peers and colleagues, Y/n?"
I turned my head to the front of the desk and there stood Angela with her eyes narrowed and a small frown on her face.
"What, this? You misunderstand Angela! This is just a test that I decided to help Malkuth with."
She raised an eyebrow towards Malkuth who had suddenly returned my hug, which stopped me from moving away from her.
"Precisely, Angela! We were merely experimenting! Though I believe we will have to try it again as I believe you have interrupted us and the results need to be done in a controlled environment......like his room."
Yeah, no. Malkuth, I love and adore you, but I would much rather deal with an Abnormality than what Angela would do if she finds you in my room.
Angela's eyes turned into a heated glare.
"Denied."
Thankfully Angela is abusive of her position and power over us and enforces the rules......maybe I shouldn't be so thankful.
"What! Well then I'll jus—"
"Malkuth, I believe Y/n's shift has already ended. It would be wise to let him rest for the night for preparations for tomorrow."
"Y-Yeah Malkuth! Come on, we both did a good job today. We should proud of everything we've done, plus it's only the first day with the new Manager remember?"
Luckily it seemed to have gotten her to loosen her grip and allowed me to get up.
"I guess that's true. Fine, but I expect you to work just as hard tomorrow. And no more slacking off with other employees when you are helping with me!"
"Right, right, well good night Malkuth!"
I grabbed the unfinished documents and took them with me as I walked out the room.
".....Are you feeling well, Y/n?"
"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine, Angela."
Angela had seemingly followed me without me noticing. Though it did cause me to internally be startled, the fact that it was just her made me calm down outwardly.
"That's excellent news. Though do be sure to take one of the pills a night. They will help with relieving you of stress and any headaches you may have."
I didn't know if she was telling the truth or not. I trusted Angela, but not to the point where I'll just take any pill or medication that she prescribes me with. Especially when I don't remember when or how she did it.
"I'll do just that, thanks Angela."
She closed her eyes and held a smile as she walked by my side. We enjoyed each other's company throughout our journey, tt was only a few minutes before we arrived at the front of my sleeping quarters.
"Before we bid each other good night, here are the documents for the Manager. I thought I'd give you them now since you're here."
I handed her several of my own documents that I held under Malkuth's unfinished ones.
"Exemplary work as always Y/n."
I opened the door to my room and stood by the door frame.
"Oh course, I help out whenever I can. Good night, Angela."
"...."
She stared into my eyes before closing them right when I thought it was getting awkward.
"Yes.....Good night, Y/n."
I nodded my head and closed the door slowly.
I walked through the dark room and placed the small stack of paper on the dining table. Taking off my dress shoes, coat, baton, and badge, I placed them on the dining chair as I made my way to the bed.
It was only for a moment, but I debated on whether to take the pills that Angela had "given" me. Either I trusted her word and took the pill for the night, or I don't take them and risk her finding out.
If the pills weren't for helping with headaches and had a different effect that only Angela would know, then she would undoubtedly know whether I took them or not.
....damn I'll just have to take a risk. I grabbed the pill bottle from the drawer and took a pill out before swallowing it. I closed it back up and grabbed the note that came with it. I picked up a pen from the nightstand and wrote a message at the back of the note and placed it underneath the pill bottle on my nightstand.
The note simply detailed the things that happened today and that if my future self couldn't remember then Angela couldn't be trusted.
I slowly got into bed and adjusted myself for a night of rest.
That was put to a stop when something shuffled in the side of the blankets near the wall. Since it was dark, I failed to notice the unexpected visitor that had snuck into my room while I was gone.
Slowly they made their way to my side as they peaked at me from under the blankets. This could only be one of two people. But judging by their small silhouette, I have a pretty good assumption on who.
" *Sigh* BongBong, what are you doing here?"
BongBong popped her head out from the blankets and stared at me as she used my arm as a pillow.
"Bong!"
"....no."
She stared even more intently.
"Bong!"
".....I spoil you too much, you know that?"
"BongBong!"
"Come here then."
She wrapped her hands around my torso, her small body made me seem like a body pillow compared to her. It wasn't even a few seconds before the small sounds of her breathing indicated that she was asleep. I chuckled and simply gave her a one arm hug and closed my eyes.
Sleep came quickly....perhaps a little too quickly.