——————————————————————————
["You see a song in front of you. It's approaching, becoming more colorful by the second."]
——————————————————————————
Y/n's POV
I woke up to a massive headache as my drowsiness slowly faded. I groaned painfully as I clutched my forehead with both hands and sat straight up. The throbbing of my head made me want to lay my head back down on the surface of whatever I was laying it on, but I pushed through the pain.
Slowly I opened my eyes, wincing every so often when the throbbing was too much, and glanced around the room. I didn't need my eyes to adjust to know that I was still in BongBong's room. I also knew that I wasn't on a bed, if the table in front of me and the chair I'm sitting on was any indicator.
I glanced at the table and saw nothing there, even though I felt as if there should've been something. My throat ached and felt like sandpaper as I swallowed the little amounts of saliva. The lingering taste and smell of alcohol was all I needed to know that I had likely passed out from drinking.
Netzach would've been proud.
I vaguely remember the events of last night, with the only clear portions of my memory being when I finished the first champagne bottle with Angela. It was likely that in my less than stable mental state I had asked for more. You would think that Angela, being my Superior, would have put a stop to it before things got out of hand, but apparently not if I woke up like this.
I chuckled and immediately regretted it as my throat felt sore, causing me to cough a bit. After getting up and getting a drink of water, I took a well needed shower. The cold water helped clear my mind a bit and quickly got rid of any sleepiness I had. Though it didn't help with the headache and nausea I was feeling still.
After eating a small meal of whatever was available, I exited the room and went straight to the Information Team. I took the long route to give me time to get used to the nausea and headache, which didn't seem to work. The walk was nice either way, reminded me of my walk with Yesod a few days back.
The hallways were as empty as always during this time of the morning, which was 6:20 last time I checked. I didn't have anything to report to the Manager today, so I wanted to check up on Yesod. I would've checked up on Malkuth, but with the way the meeting ended yesterday, I doubted she would be in the mood for a chat.
Slowly arriving at the main Department of the Information Team, I walked in and noticed Yesod talking to some clerks. By the look on their faces, it seemed that whatever they were talking about wasn't good. I couldn't hear their conversation from all the way here but it didn't matter since their discussion started to die out the closer I got.
After a few seconds, Yesod folded his arms and dismissed them. They all left the room with different expressions. Some were tired, some gave me looks of pity once they saw me walking towards Yesod, and others gave him the finger behind his back. When they saw me staring at them, I slowly shook my head in disappointment waved them to quickly leave.
I would've reprimanded them if it wasn't for this headache or if I didn't know Yesod personally. Once the final clerk left the room, I turned my head back to the Sephirah. He stood still and didn't turn back towards me. I couldn't tell if he was deep in thought or just didn't notice walking behind him. Either way, I decided to let him know.
Putting on a smile, I walked next to him and stared at the direction he was looking at.
"Sooooo?....Whatcha looking at?~" I asked him while we both stared at nothing.
He didn't respond and kept staring with his dull brown eyes. After a few moments of nothing between us, I got bored and looked around the room.
The Main Department for the Information Team was clean and organized. There wasn't a speck of dust on the ground nor the tables, truly showed just how much Yesod took his Department seriously if he's keeping the entire thing clean. In that category, he reminded me of Renold very much.
Taking that into account, I tried to do what I usually did with Renold when he was overworking himself.
".....I spy with my two eyes~....something white and black."
I spoke nonchalantly while I looked at him from the corner of my eye. He didn't move and at first I thought he ignored or didn't hear me. That was until I saw his eyes slightly narrow while he stared out. I quickly hid my grin and right when he was about to decide to speak, I quickly spoke since he took too long.
"Wow, didn't know you had poor eyesight, Yesod~ The answer was that empty report document on the table." I said while pointing towards the paper a clerk had possibly left behind. His mouth closed as he lost the will to speak. "One point for me, zero for you~"
This time I let my grin out and cheekily smiled at him. For just a moment, I saw his eye twitch as he took a glance at me.
"Your turn now." I said as I waved at the room as if I was presenting it to him. "Unless you think you're not good enough to win?~"
Yesod gave a click of his tongue as a response, but still looked around with his eyes. Something that I found myself smiling at, plus this was helping me get my mind off of my hangover.
A win-win.
"I spy with my two eyes...something violet." He said, and before I even had a chance to look around, I noticed his small smirk as he looked at me.
I rose an eyebrow in confusion, but that quickly changed when I realized why he was grinning like he had already won.
'Damnit.' I thought as I finally looked around the room and mentally sighed.
It was all violet themed...
...It was going to be a long game.
——————————————————————————
3rd POV
"Alright everyone! Good job on a hard day of work!" Malkuth announced to her Department as they all sighed from exhaustion. They didn't know why, but she was more relentless than usual with her orders and workload. The agents were barely able to keep up while the clerks were even worse.
Some clerks had even collapsed from relief as soon as she gave them the "okay" to leave. Others, who had passed out earlier in the night-shift from exhaustion, had woken back up and cried tears of joy when they realized the shift was over. Those who were awake and had enough strength helped pick up their fellow employees off the ground and towards their dorms.
Malkuth paid little mind to them as she put more and more effort into her work. Her clipboard was struggling to handle the pressure she was forcing onto it as she worked to keep her mind occupied.
Time always moves faster when you were busy, right?
Well, that was what Malkuth was thinking at the moment. It was also why she had overworked her employees to their current state. But she was still disappointed with how inefficient they were when following her orders.
'Another reason why Y/n should be in my Department!' She mentally noted. 'If he was here, they wouldn't be slacking off as much as they are now!'
She wasn't phased when her pen snapped in half and quickly fetched another out of her breast-pocket to continue writing where she left off. Malkuth took a glance at the time and saw that it was 7:21. She grimaced mentally before flipping through her clipboard to one of the final pages.
With blinding speed, her hand moved the pen across the page and wrote whatever it took to get her mind to calm down. Malkuth wasn't surprised when the page was filled with Y/n's name before she flipped it over and started writing again on a clean one.
Her dull eyes gazed at the name of the person who caused those pleasant feelings within her. Each time she did, her body ached for his comfort while her mind became flooded with thoughts of him. If she wasn't careful, she would undoubtedly lose control and end up trying to find him.
Luckily, she wasn't the Sephirah of the Control Team for nothing! She was able to control herself at the last minute before she could do anything that would warrant punishment from Angela.
Malkuth's grip tightened at the mere thought of her. But she restrained herself in favor of remembering what Y/n said during last night's meeting.
'Just 14 more days!' Malkuth reminded herself. '14 more and then he will be all yours!~'
Malkuth's constant smile widened even more, and if anyone were to have been watching they would have noticed just how off it looked. But alas, no one was watching her. Surprisingly not even Angela, who was busy tending to the Manager. With no one to watch her, Malkuth went to fetch the one thing stopping her from going on a scavenger hunt for Y/n.
She sped walked to a hidden compartment within her Department which only she knew. After inputting her code, it opened a small compartment to which she pulled out a long grey blanket.
Y/n's blanket to be precise.
She placed her clipboard down along with her pen and held the piece of wool to her body. She wrapped it around herself and snuggled in it while taking long sniffs. The fact that she didn't smell anything didn't bother her as she continued to tightly hold onto it.
She tried to take in the smell, his smell, but couldn't find it. However, just when she was close to giving up, she smelled a little "something". That small "something" was enough for her to continue her efforts again.
Even though she tightly wrapped herself in it, she felt no warmth. However, just when she was close to giving up, the image of Y/n replacing the blanket as he hugged her was enough for her to continue her efforts again.
This cycle repeated itself as she momentarily forgot about everything. Taking a seat on a nearby desk, she all but continued her self enjoyment in the empty room.
"Ghehehehe~" She creepily giggled to herself while imagining all the praise Y/n would give her when he came back to her Department. "Are you proud of me?~ Did I do a good job?~ Ghehehehe~"
Her eyes grew more dull as she stared into the distance and chuckled. She continued to speak to herself even when the first few clerks came for the day-shift.
They didn't say anything to her, only because their Sephirah was giving them some bad vibes, and went to start their work early.
"What's up with her?" A male clerk whispered to another after they walked to the other end of the room. His fellow clerk turned her head to look at Malkuth before she shook it.
"No idea...." His fellow clerk responded. "....let's just try to stay away from her for today."
The male clerk nodded his head as he glanced at their Sephirah still giggling to herself. He felt a shiver run down his spine when her voice echoed in his head from all the way here.
"Yeah...let's do that."
——————————————————————————
Mike's Room
Mike woke up energized and ready for the day. After having a full 24 hours to rest yesterday, he was all but ready to contribute in helping his Department. The new leg fit just nicely and even felt better than before, he would have to thank the Captain again for getting it fixed.
After eating some rations and getting refreshed in a shower, Mike walked out of his room with new found vigor. His first thoughts for the morning were to check up on his friends, starting with Dana. Yesterday night, all three of the Control Team had shared what number their dorm rooms were so that they could visit one another from time to time.
'J-278. J-279. Aha! J-280!' Mike mentally counted as he grinned.
He stood in front of Dana's room and quickly let her know he was here by knocking loudly. At first he was worried that he got the wrong room when nobody answered, that was until the door opened. He was expecting to see Dana's cheerful smile but instead was greeted by the top of Roxie's head causing him to look down at her.
"U-Uh hey Roxie! Didn't expect to see you here." He spoke as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.
Roxie merely smiled at him before nodding her head and stepping to the side to let him in. Seeing no reason to refuse her invitation, he walked in and sat at the table. Noticing the absence of Dana, he turned and gave Roxie a questioning look.
"Where's Dana?"
Roxie merely inclined her head to the direction behind her. He looked over her head and saw the door to the bathroom, and indeed he could hear the faint sound of the water running in the shower.
"Shoot, I guess I came at a wrong time then." He didn't want any misunderstandings and certainly didn't want to be seen as nosy.
He was about to get up but Roxie suddenly grabbed onto his sleeve and gestured for him to sit down. Mike calmed a bit when she gave him a reassured smile and then got up to leave towards the bathroom. Mike didn't know what she was doing but simply decided to listen and wait.
After a few moments the water stopped running and Roxie came out and nodded her head. Mike only hoped that the gesture was an indication that Dana knew he was here. Though with the way she nonchalantly walked out, he guessed that it was.
"Mike! Sorry to have kept you waiting, I didn't get to take a bath yesterday." She apologetically said as she continued to dry her hair with a towel.
"Don't worry, just woke up myself." Mike simply smiled and waved off her apology to show he didn't mind. "Ready to start the day?"
Roxie answered his question with a nod and stood up while attaching her weapon from Scorch Girl on her back. Mike himself made sure to have his weapon from One Sin strapped to his side. Dana, however, reluctantly put her towel down and nodded as she put on her E.G.O. equipment from Beauty.
Her hand, which was about to grasp her weapon, froze when a memory flashed in her head about the events two days ago. The corpses of her fellow employees being impaled by the spear she was about to pick up. The sounds of bones crunching and meat being sliced echoed in her head.
For a moment, she couldn't move nor think. Her mind had began to be filled with doubt and uneasiness. Dread filled her body as she felt sick imaging it happening again.
Would she turn on Mike and Roxie this time?
Would their blood be on her hands today?
Would she be covered in their stench while she helplessly drowns in her own insanity?
Would she ruthlessly cut them down like she did to those on that day?
Before her thoughts could progress any further, two hands gripped onto her shoulders. She immediately got pulled out of her trance and turned to look at both Roxie and Mike giving her looks of encouragement. Seeing this, Dana smiled appreciatively before grabbing her weapon and turning to them once more.
"Let's do this!"
Dana cheered as all three of them left her room together towards the main room of the Control Team Department. Whatever the day had in store for them, they would face it together.
——————————————————————————
X's POV
The elevator continued its descent as I patiently waited for it to reach its destination. I was alone, something that I found myself being relieved since I thought Angela would've for sure came with me. She said that since I knew how to maneuver my way through the facility, she found no reason to accompany me when meeting with the other Sephirot.
Much like with Malkuth, it seemed I was expected to visit each Sephirot and their respective Departments whenever I am put in charge of them. I don't know how well I will be doing taking care of two Departments, but I find myself a little confident with what I had learned the past few days here.
But at the moment, rather than worrying about my future responsibilities, I was more irritated by the fact that the "perfect AI" who was supposed to be responsible for my "protection" wasn't present.
'In charge of my protection my ass.' I mentally mocked the machine.
Even though I thought that, I actually preferred this than having her constantly around me. I knew how contradicting it sounded, but my mind constantly shifted between wanting her presence and being too disgusted to even be near her.
*DING*
The sound got me to take a break from my mental struggle as I took that as the cue to leave the elevator. Upon leaving, I was greeted by a violet themed room. The size was the same as the Control Team's but instead of being messy or chaotic with the staff, this one was more tidy and organized. The clerks were diligently working on their consoles and clipboards. The only sound in the room were my footsteps and the occasional conversations between the employees.
Some took a glance in my direction but quickly diverted their eyes when they met mine. I guess my constant cold-poker face wasn't helping with me being approachable. Though that was their problem, I was glad to have it as it was useful in showing outwardly I could keep myself level-headed.
Even if it wasn't true for my mental state.
Regardless, I continued walking in hopes of finding Yesod, the Sephirah of the Information Team, to discuss and get to know him better. Or at least that's what I'm hoping this is supposed to be for, Angela never specified the point in meeting them in the first place and neither did the manual.
After a few minutes of searching, I completely gave up and decided to ask for his whereabouts. I calmly walked up to a random clerk who was working on what seemed to be a report.
"......excuse me......I have a question to ask you." For some reason, it felt really difficult to start the conversation.
The clerk was obviously startled by my sudden presence as he jumped from his seat and quickly turned.
"U-Uhhh M-Manager! W-What can I do for you?!" He nervously asked as he gulped loudly.
'Why is he so afraid? Not like I'm capable of any harm....or was it the sound of my voice? Damn I knew I should've gotten some cough drops.'
I shrugged off the look of fear he gave me and instead decided to get to the point.
"Where is your Sephirah?"
The clerk glanced at his fellow employees before he scanned the room. Seeing his Sephirah nowhere in sight, the poor clerk simply stuttered a response.
"I-I-I don't know, Manager!" He was starting to sweat as he fidgeted under my stare. "M-Maybe he is currently busy with something?"
"I see."
I didn't say anything else since there wasn't any point in asking for more if he didn't know. Though I guess he interpreted it as something else as he suddenly turned pale.
"W-Wait! I-I'm telling the truth!"
I merely raised an eyebrow at his sudden exclamation.
"Please don't fire me! I've been doing my job!"
Confusion was all I felt, even more so when he suddenly got on his knees with tears in his eyes. The other clerks were now staring at us, and they avoided my eyes when I turned to look at them. The crying clerk continued to voice out his apologies as I uncomfortably backed away.
"It's fine. I wasn't going to fire you."
After my statement he suddenly stopped crying with snot coming out of his nose.
"D-Do you really mean it, Manager?!" He asked—no—pleaded as he stood back up with a hopeful look.
"Y-Yes, now I must get going."
I quickly turned and walked away. The clerk cheered behind me with the others congratulating him for some reason. I would've asked what that was all about, but I didn't want to risk another similar situation from happening again. The other surrounding clerks had suddenly started gossiping, though about what I didn't know.
All of their chattering and movements stopped, however, when one of the doors opened and in walked a man with purple hair. Of course, it was the Sephirah, Yesod, himself that walked in with Y/n by his side. The clerks all quickly went back to work and soon the silence from before returned.
The Captain of the Reserves had a nonchalant smile as he spoke to the Sephirah who had a blank look. Their voices being the only sound along with their footsteps.
Both hadn't noticed me standing here as they continued to discuss with one another. Seeing that it was going to be a while for them to finish, I decided to walk up to them.
"Ha! I guess it's my wi—Oh hey, Manager!" Y/n greeted after he noticed me walking up to them.
Yesod slowly turned his head to face me and his eyes showed a glint of something before he turned back to Y/n. I didn't know what exactly that glint was, but I decided to just ignore it for now to preserve whatever sanity I had left in me.
"We will continue our discussion at a later time, Captain Y/n."
Y/n rose an eyebrow at the sudden cold dismissal before brushing it off and walking away. I was also confused but decided not to question it.
"Sure, see ya later then." Y/n said while waving at us as he walked away.
The Captain of the Reserves walked out to who knows where and soon it was just me and Yesod standing here in silence. I didn't know why it was hard for me to speak up, but it was most likely due to the fact that I had gotten used to Angela speaking up first.
For a few awkward seconds, we simply stood here.
'...what do I say?' I mentally furrowed my brows, 'Do I just.....you know what? Never mind.'
I was close to just walking back to my office, but luckily, Yesod started the conversation before I could commit. I stopped my thoughts and turned to look at him as he did so as well. He stared at me before his eyes looked at me up and down as if analyzing my entire self. I felt uncomfortable but simply stood my ground.
"Manager.....you are the head of this corporation. You are supposed to set an example for the rest of those who work here, but considering the state of your attire I would've given you a minimum of ten penalty points."
I was confused and surprised by how serious he sounded over something so simple. I checked myself over to se what exactly he was talking about but didn't see anything off.
"I don't particularly see the point you are trying to make...." I stated as he looked at me over once again.
"Of course you don't, but that aside, as a Sephirah I hold no authority over you. Meaning that I'll tolerate your current state for your duration here."
I dumbly nodded my head but kept a blank look that matched his.
"Although you already know of me, allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Yesod, the Sephirah of the Information Team."
He crossed his arms as he eyed me analytically. I kept the same posture and didn't budge as I simply introduced myself as well.
"X.....Manager of Lobotomy Corp."
Yesod nodded his head and leaned on his leg.
"I doubt Malkuth mentioned the purpose of meeting with the Sephirot but I will take the honors of informing you the purpose."
'Finally someone who can give answers.'
"Meeting with each Sephirot will allow you to become familiar with what each Department they control do. Malkuth's for example is the general managing of the controls here in this facility."
Yesod then turned and started walking towards one of the consoles in the middle of the room. Following along, I noticed how the other employees in the room kept their head down even more than before.
"The Information Team is in charge of processing and archiving data that this facility extracts. Every second, every minute, and every hour of the day has new data being collected and evaluated for us, and you, to use.
He suddenly turned one of the consoles on and shows me it's interface which had a constant stream of numbers. None of which I was able to understand so I could only take his word for it.
"It is vital that we ensure the accuracy of our reports and logs, meaning we must concentrate and focus on our job at all times. As a single strand of misinformation could lead to an uncontrollable disaster."
That made me think of the events with Dana and that music box. I could see the point he was making and would wholeheartedly agree that it would be better to avoid those types of situations.
"I ask of you to not take the information you receive for granted. The employees here put their all into the work they do, including their despair and desperation. You may not notice it now, but you will soon enough."
Yesod then turned off the console and faced me while leaning on the chair behind him. Taking this time to think, my eyes unconsciously laid on his outfit and it seemed that he took notice as he stood back up straighter.
"Your eyes tell me that you question my attire. Though I find it hypocritical of you to do so considering your current state, I shall inform you that I simply have an aversion to exposing any part of my body."
"Is there a particular reason as to why?" I finally spoke when I took notice of his uncomfortable gaze.
"...I don't exactly remember when I started to feel this way...but it's likely that it's been this way before I joined the company."
Before I could openly question that odd statement, the door near us opened and in walked a man with long green hair. He wore his suit messily and had an armband with the letter 'N' on it. If I remembered correctly this was Netzach, Sephirah of the Safety Team.
'What? How could he not know his own condition?' Questions started to form in my head as I looked at Yesod from the corner of my eyes before looking at the other Sephirah.
Yesod's blank look slowly turned to a frown as he fully looked at his fellow Sephirah. Netzach, however, looked as carefree and nonchalant as the last time I've seen him.
"Yo....Yesod, do you have any spare paper? My Department ran out it seems." He spoke while slurring some of his words as he sluggishly walked up to the two of us.
'Was he drunk?'
Before I could ask if he was under the effects of alcohol, Yesod narrowed his eyes slightly and gave him a disapproving look. For a moment I thought he was going to address what I had just observed, but it didn't seem to be the case.
"Netzach.....the rules state that we're not meant to trade resources between Departments."
"Even for a single piece of paper?" He joked.
Yesod didn't take that too kindly and glared harshly as a response.
"Yeeesh, alright. Stop giving me that sharp look, Mister Viper."
That nickname caused me to questioningly look at Yesod. He didn't react to my look and simply kept quiet while staring at Netzach.
"Don't understand how Y/n handles you, man. Either way, I'm heading out." He boringly spoke as he turned away to the exit. "Though try not to flatten Y/n with the workload, Mister Viper. I wouldn't want to lose my only drinking partner."
Netzach lazily waved goodbye, pulled a flask out of his suit, and drank while walking out.
'I guess that answers the question of whether he was drunk or not.' I mentally grimaced.
"I should get going now." Yesod spoke to me with his back turned and walking away from me."I need to finish today's work. The assignment for my Department has already been sent to your office."
I stood here in silence as I watched him leave to the other side of the room while working on a digital tablet. Seeing no other reason to stay here, I walked towards the elevator and took it up.
——————————————————————————
3rd POV
X walked through the corridor towards his office. Upon reaching and entering it, he noticed Angela standing at attention in her usual spot. Not sparing her a glance, he walked past and sat on his desk. No sooner did his bottom touch the leather chair did the the sound of someone knocking on his office door resonate within the room.
X sighed as he tiredly spoke out.
"Come in."
The door opened with haste and there standing in the doorway was the silhouette of the Reserves' Trainer, BongBong. The shadows that covered her front figure gave her an ominous appearance. The way she walked into the room as if she was floating only served to creep X out even more.
The closer she got, the more X leaned into his chair as he tried to somehow keep his distance from her. Only when the little girl reached his office, with her head barely peaking over his desk, did both of them stop their movements.
Her star-shaped eyes peaked and stared at him over the desk. X glanced at Angela who hadn't even bothered to acknowledge the events happening. It was only after a few minutes when X finally gained the courage to speak.
"Lieutenant...BongBong.....What is your purpose in coming here." He asked reluctantly. The child merely gazed at him without blinking, making him extremely uncomfortable.
Before he had the chance to speak again, BongBong's arm blurred with insane speed and placed something on top of his desk. The Manager blinked before he looked at the item that now occupied a small portion of his desk.
It was orangish brown on the bottom portion while green and prickly on the top portion. The green portion branched into three segments, with each standing up vertically.
It was a cactus......
X was glad he had a constant forced poker face, because he was sure that if he didn't his face would be scrunched up in confusion.
When he didn't say anything, BongBong looked between the cactus she placed and him. Seeing that he wasn't reacting, her hand blurred once again and pushed the cactus closer to him.
*creak*
The clay pot scraped against the wooden desktop as she slid it an inch closer.
Still, X didn't move as he was lost in thought.
'Where did she get the cactus from? Did she grow it here?'
*creak*
She pushed it closer again.
He didn't move again.
'I wonder, do they have a garden here to sustain all of the employees? Or do they simply buy food from somewhere else?'
*cre—*
Due to her small size and the table's size, she couldn't finish pushing the cactus and ended up hanging on the edge of his desk. Her legs dangled as she tried to reach the cactus while he fingers repeatedly vibrated to push to reach the pot.
X was still rebooting his mind as he stared blankly at the cactus and it's presenter.
BongBong, who was starting to get frustrated, was about to hop onto the desk fully when suddenly a pair of arms grabbed her body by the waist and hoisted her up. Now close to the pot, she fully pushed the cactus till it was directly in front of the Manager's position.
Proud of her work, BongBong looked back at the person who assisted her and found herself being carried by Angela who stared down at her.
They both stared at each other with blank faces.
"Bong."
"..."
BongBong wanted to thank her for helping her, so she did what Shina told her to do whenever she needed to thank Angela.
Slowly, she rose her hand towards Angela's face. Angela didn't react except for opening her eyes slightly to gaze at the Reserves member. Inch by inch, BongBong's hand reached out towards her pale skin. Just when it was about to cup her cheek, it redirected itself downwards and latched onto her left breast.
No one made a sound.
The Manager's mind was too tired to deal with this and had already deleted this entire interaction.
BongBong merely nodded to herself as she squeezed the breast in her hand with the message "Thank you" in Morse code.
Angela's eyes twitched as she got the "message" and slowly put the girl down.
BongBong then turned back to the Manager and waved a goodbye.
Neither of the other two reacted and simply stared at her.....
.....and she stared back.....
BongBong slowly walked backwards the same way she came in, all while still waving. Once she reached the still open door frame, she grabbed the door and slowly closed it.
The door creaked and slowly but surely was closing. The fact that BongBong kept eye contact with X was creepy and making it much more scary than what it actually was.
Just when the door was about to close, BongBong's eye and mouth could be seen through the small slit. Her lone eye burrowed its sights directly into X's eyes as she slowly mouthed the words.
"Bong.......Bong."
*click*
The door finally closed and immediately X slammed his head on his desk.
Angela didn't pay it any mind and continued on as if nothing even happened in the first place.
"There are a vast number of employees that would like to know more about you as a person. Some will take the initiative and attempt to approach you first."
The Manager mentally cursed her and ignored what she continued to say as he pressed the button to start the day.
——————————————————————————
"Announcement in progress:
To all personnel, the start of the day has been initiated.
Please report to your designated area."
Y/n slowly made his way back to his assigned Department. He didn't know what exactly the Manager wanted from Yesod, but with the way the Sephirah dismissed him, it was surely something important.
'Or maybe....he was just upset that I won?'
Y/n liked to think that was the reason, it just made it more amusing for him. The game had started light-hearted but soon it turned to a competition. One that ended up having them go to a different location since they used up all the stuff in the main room.
Y/n walked through the door and maneuvered his way past some clerks who were too busy to see him in the way. Luckily, he avoiding colliding into them.
Different from Malkuth's Department, Yesod's was more quiet and efficient in everything. In the distance, Y/n could hear Yesod giving orders to three agents with his harsh and cold tone. Y/n ignored that in favor of sitting down and working on his own portion of work.
He had barely even started when suddenly he was notified of an assignment.
Y/n checked his wrist and saw that it was insight work on O-03-60.
Getting up, Y/n walked his way to the nearby hallway and picked up the cleaning tools from the nearby closet.
He whistled a random tune as he walked into the containment room. Y/n froze and stopped whistling as he gazed at the entity that occupied the room.
There were no words to describe what exactly stood in front of him. It seemed otherworldly, incomprehensible, and simplistic all at once. It's dark and scattered body was constantly shifting. It's appendages seemed fragile yet sturdy as it stood almost triple Y/n's size.
The random changes of colors and shapes gave a hypnotizing feeling, but he quickly straightened myself out and walked in as the door closed behind me. Y/n ignored the echoes of its call and merely started mopping the floor. There wasn't anything specifically for him to clean, but regardless he made sure to make the floor spotless.
The sound of multiple voices and sounds howling behind him was an indicator that the Abnormality was behind him.
Y/n paid it no mind and simply moved to check the thermostat. It was a little too hot so he put it down a notch. He turned and was greeted by the Abnormality turning its heart shaped "head" as it gazed at him.
"....."
He didn't say anything and merely walked past it to pick up his stuff.
*Screeeeech!!*
The sudden volume of its screech almost caused Y/n to drop his stuff and grip his head.
"4 PE-Boxes Produced"
Luckily, his work was done already. The door to the containment unlocked and Y/n sped out of there.
"God damn Abnormality.....just made my hangover worse."
Y/n sighed while he filed out the information.
?????????????
————————————
Classification: ???
Observations/Tips:
"Insight work seems to be less efficient in gaining PE-Boxes. Aggressive behavior when conducting insight work is also something to note.
Acts of aggression mainly includes screeching a high pitch howl. Be advised that it may cause ruptures of ears and mental pain."
—————————————
Y/n frowned a bit from the lack of information he got from his time in there. But seeing nothing else to do, he simply put it to he panel on the side and walked back to his Department.
Upon entering, he walked past an agent with light bluish hair tied up at the back. He had severe bags under his eyes as his he walked past Y/n towards the direction he can from. Y/n guessed that he was sent to work on the Abnormality that he just worked on.
——————————————————————————
X's POV
The day so far had been going well. There weren't any issues with the Abnormalities in the Control Team since I knew how they needed to be dealt with already, but the new Abnormality was proving to be a challenge.
As the number of people I sent in there increased, the degree of its aggression did too. A bar at the top of my monitor of the Departments also appeared with a specific time on it. Just when I was getting used to the things of my Department, new things just had to make it more complicated.
The words "Amber Dawn" were next to the time "9:30". I checked the time and saw that it was 9:27. Not knowing how to prepare for this, I simply decided to wait.
Sending Mike to clear a Meltdown from Beauty, I simply leaned back and waited for the time to come.
——————————————————————————
Y/n's POV
I was casually writing on my reports when suddenly the alarms within the room blared and the intercom came to life.
"Attention to all Personnel!
Foreign Entities detected within the Facility!
Suppression is advised!"
I had to commend the clerks for keeping their cool. Most of them simply quickened their pace while a few started panicking as they glanced around the room. I dropped my stuff and got up, someone had to calm these guys down before they start causing more issues.
"Hey! Keep calm~ Just continue working like usual, I'll deal with this."
My voice luckily reached them and they at least grew less fearful. I don't know if it was due to my casual tone or just the fact that they needed reassurance. Regardless I turned on my radio and walked out of the room.
"Can I get a status report on the situation?" I spoke as I walked past the fast moving clerks coming my way.
"Sensors detected thirty total entities to have manifested in the facility. Fifteen in the Control Department and another fifteen in the Information Department." A male clerk commented from the other side of my radio.
"Where are they?"
"Near the Eastern Stairwell, Captain." A female clerk notified.
Having a clear location to go, I immediately ran down the hall. I didn't particularly worry about the Control Team since they seemed to have become more experienced and seemed to be a great team overall.
I entered the hallway that led to the Eastern Stairwell and was immediately greeted with the strong smell of iron and death. Clerks littered the ground and walls as their blood created a wet blanket on the ground. The red crimson floor reflected the alarms blaring over head and revealed the entities within the farther end of the hall.
Fifteen slithering worm-like entities, that were almost half the size of a human, jumped and ravaged the corpses on the ground. The crunch of bones breaking and meat being torn apart echoed within the room.
All of which I ignored as I sprinted towards them while grabbing two firearms from the dead clerks nearby.
With limited ammo I waited until I was a few feet away before firing at them. The flashes from the muzzle of my guns lit the hallway and gave me a clear view of the worms.
The bullets ricocheted off their armor plating. Their eyes frantically looked around before setting on my figure.
I didn't wait for them and immediately shot at the closest one's eyes. Only one of its eyes were punctured as it released a high pitch gargle. The others immediately curled into themselves and lunged in my direction with their mouth-like beaks snapping.
I quickly dodged to the left and avoided their onslaught. They all landed on a dead clerk and bit down on it as blood oozed onto the floor. They seemed to have forgotten me and started to feast on the corpse.
Taking this chance while they are distracted, I got behind the closest one and stepped on its frontal head with enough force that it's innards came out of its mouth.
If I couldn't hurt them on the outside, then I simply had to hurt them on the inside.
Another seemed to had noticed its brethren's death and hissed at me. I simply shoved my gun and hand into its mouth, turned it upwards, and unloaded three bullets into its brain.
When the gun made a muffled click to show it was empty, I merely left it in the corpse and rolled out of the way of another attack.
It was at this point that I heard the door from the stairwell open. I didn't bother to look as I kept the worms in my sight. Though judging by the clicking of shoes onto the wet floor, I had a good guess on who it was.
"Hey, BongBong. Did someone send you to help me?"
"Bong!"
"You found me on your own? Good job! I'll give you some candy when we're done." I smiled at her and saw her eyes light up in joy. "But first wanna play a game with me real quick?"
Best way to make BongBong work? Just make it a game and she'll be all for "playing". As expected, she nodded her head vigorously before dodging a worm that lunged at her.
"Alright! Whoever pops the most worms wins!"
With a fire in her eyes, BongBong grabbed one by the end and slammed it on another as they became a bloody mess.
'Two-in-one? Too can play that game!'
——————————————————————————
3rd POV
The Manager watched through the monitor as the agents and clerks fought for their lives. He was cursing the manual and the lack of information he had at his disposal.
How was he supposed to know that Amber Dawn meant Ordeals?!
The manual simply told him how to deal with them, not how to identify them!
Of course, that wasn't the only issue either. At the moment, Scorched Girl and O-03-60 were having simultaneous Meltdowns. He had already sent the Control Team to deal with the first half of the Ordeal, and Y/n was preoccupied with the other half. Sending in a clerk into their containments was forbidden simply because they wouldn't be prepared to handle any Abnormalities. That left absolutely no one to send to mitigate the Meltdowns.
Frustrated, X simply grit his teeth and clenched his fists under his desk. He was being forced to make a decision. Either he ignores the Meltdowns and focuses on the rampaging worms with the risk of the abnormalities breaking out, or he sends people to deal with them but risk the rest of his staff being killed.
Neither of them were better than the other, but with the Meltdowns already at 30 second, X simply decided to just let pass. They already were able to suppress Scorched Girl with ease last time, so he was less worried about that one. The other was more worrisome since he barely got any data from it.
'Damn....'
Fortunately, none of his agents died which meant he didn't necessarily need to reset the day. His clerks, however, were a different story as they dropped like flies as soon as they tried to run or engage them. The Meltdown counters hit the 20 second mark, and X simply watched on as he made his decision.
Angela hadn't said anything as she simply watched from the sidelines, almost as if waiting for something.
——————————————————————————
Control Team: Western Hallway
The three Control Team members all let out a breathe of relief when the last worm was shot and turned to paste by Roxie's weapon. The smell of burnt meat filled the air and caused them to feel nauseous.
"I think I'm gonna be sick!"
Mike said as he ran out of the Hallway. Dana quickly followed behind him with Roxie jogging to catch up. They entered back into the Control Team where the sound of Mike throwing up was heard, it seemed like the adrenaline from the conflict ran out.
The employees within the room all cheered as they celebrated their Team of agents coming back from their fight. Though it would have been better if they did that after the alarms stopped.
Dana held a grimace on her face as she also looked like she was close to throwing up her breakfast. Roxie was the more stable of the two as she rubbed both of their shoulders in a reassuring way.
That was until she jumped by the sudden sound of the intercom coming to life. Everyone hoped it was to bring good news.
But of course, it was not meant to be.
"Attention to all Personnel!
Scorched Girl has breached Containment!
Suppression is advised!"
"Attention to all Personnel!
O-03-60 has breached Containment!
Suppression is advised"
The alarm that blared through the intercoms suddenly changed to a more alerted and aggressive one. Some clerks had already gave up and started crying on the floor. Others were curled up under their desks as they insanely laughed to themselves while muttering incomprehensible words.
Roxie, being the most stable one in the room, had already sprinted out in order to suppress Scorched Girl. Dana and Mike called and chased after her, but she was too quick and had already made it to the stairwell.
——————————————————————————
Information Team: Eastern Hallway
BongBong had just killed the last worm as Y/n watched in amusement. He gave her a round of applause as she triumphantly stood on a mountain of their corpses.
"Congratulations, you beat me." I told her as it was a close tie of 7-7 before she took the last kill. "I'll get you that candy once this is over."
BongBong happily hopped down from her work of art and ran towards Y/n to give him a hug. Seeing no reason not to return it, he wrapped his arms around her and laughed. Neither of them were affected by the fact that they were covered in intestines and bodily fluids as they happily laughed.
That was until the announcement of the breaches and the second trumpet coming to life made Y/n snap out of it.
"Damn.....BongBong go get yourself cleaned up. I'll meet you at the end of the day." He told her as he didn't want to see her get hurt.
Although BongBong didn't know it, Y/n knew full well that she could take care of herself, even in the face of a Abnormality. He was doing this simply because he didn't want to see her get hurt under his watch.
He would be disappointed in himself if that ever happened.
BongBong found no reason to go against it and happily sprinting up the stairwell. Y/n chuckled before he turned the other direction and sprinted towards O-03-60's containment.
"What's the status on O-03-60?" He asked as he pulled out the radio.
"Moving through the Western Stairwell and is about to intercept Agent Roxie on her suppression of Scorched Girl."
Y/n quickly sped up and ran up the steps as fast as he could.
"Roxie!" Y/n heard the shout of Mike coming from a few floors above him, which followed by the familiar screeching of O-03-60.
Moving quickly, he finally reached the floor of their voices but an explosion occurred before he could enter which threw him back against the stairs.
"Attention to all Personnel!
Agent Mike has perished!
Agent Roxie has perished!
Scorched Girl has been suppressed!"
The smell of smoke and ash filled the hallway and entered the stairs. Y/n struggled to see through the smoke, but nonetheless ran into the hallway once he got his balance back.
He walked through the burning chaos that was the hallway. The fire didn't seem to be dying down and only seemed to be growing with how much air was being provided by the stairwell. Y/n jumped over a support beam that fell from the ceiling and saw multitudes rubble piles. A crater was also on the ground and even caused the sides to bend.
Y/n maneuvered his way through the rubble and found the traces of blood on the ground. Following the trail, he came to find Roxie and Mike both collapsed on the ground. Mike was holding Roxie in a protective manner with half of his body missing or charred. Roxie herself was missing an arm from the shoulder and had a metal pipe lodged into her chest.
Y/n gazed at them, completely unphased, as he knelt down and checked to make sure if they were dead or alive. Seeing that they weren't alive, he got up and walked further into the burning hallway.
He picked up the faint sounds of a fight and followed it. After jumping over a pile of rubble, he found Dana current attacking O-03-60. She tried to cut one of its appendage but the Abnormality screeched which caused her to stumble and clutch her head in pain.
Just as it was about to impale her with its tentacle, Y/n dashed forward and deflected it with Dana's weapon. Taking this chance, he wrapped his arm around Dana and tossed her a few feet away before dodging a fast swing from the Abnormality.
Y/n got back up and side stepped one of its tentacles trying to impale him. Spinning the spear from Beauty to have the pointed end at the front, Y/n lunged and thrusted it at the Abnormality's midsection as hard as he could.
The spear met the body of the entity, yet nothing happened.
Sparks flew as the spear felt like it hit reinforced steel. It didn't wait for Y/n to recover and immediately swung its other appendage at him. The attack hit his abdomen and sent him flying to the wall to which he slammed onto it and fell.
Y/n coughed as he felt the air get knocked out of him and glanced around the smokey hallway to avoid the next attack.
"Raaaaahhhh!"
The shout from Dana caused it to turn and face her as she charged with Roxie's weapon. She hefted it and aimed it straight at the Abnormality before she clicked its trigger.
Dana's eyes widened when nothing happened.
"Wha—"
She didn't get to finish her thoughts as the Abnormality combined its two front tentacles and speared them both through her chest.
"Gah!"
Her body spasmed as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Foam formed out of her mouth as the Abnormality's attack damaged her physically and mentally. Due to her mental state being unstable, her brain was quickly overloaded.
Not even 3 seconds of spasming, she was soon brain dead.
"Attention to all Personnel!
Agent Dana has perished!"
Her body froze mid spasm as she fell limp while still impaled. The Abnormality screeched and was about to toss her corpse aside when suddenly it felt something on top of it. It's top appendage that was in the shape of a heart turned and faced its rider.
Y/n blankly stared down at it as he stood on it. His eyes burrowed its way into the entity's entire being. Those lifeless-gray orbs were cold, empty, and endless. The Abnormality dared not move as it locked its nonexistent eyes with his.
"Do you believe in a God or deity, little spider?"
Y/n slowly asked as he raised Dana's spear above his head.
"Regardless of your answer, I want you to remember my face and remember it well."
Y/n spun the spear until the pointed ends were aiming down.
"Because the next time you see me, you better pray that you're in your containment cell and not out of it."
Y/n didn't wait for a response and plunged the weapon through the Abnormality's body from the top where the "head" was. Y/n pushed and pushed until the handle of the spear was half-way through the entity's body. When he saw that it still stood standing, he put his foot on the spear and stomped the entirety of it inside.
That seemed to do the trick as it suddenly collapsed.
"Attention to all Personnel!
O-03-60 has been suppressed!"
——————————————————————————
Manager's Office
The Manager sat on his chair with his head in his hands. A blank look was plastered on his face as he gazed at the monitor in front of him. He didn't even glance or bother hiding his displeasure at Angela when he spoke to her.
"Reset the day." He emotionlessly commanded.
"The entirety, or just to the moment before the breach?" She smoothly asked back.
X thought about it for a moment. He could prevent the deaths of all of those that died today, or he can just wind back to the point before everything went down hill. It was at this moment that X realized why the clerk earlier today was terrified of him.
It was because if he had to choose between a nameless clerk, or a vital agent, the answer would've been obvious no matter what situation it was.
Would he feel bad for all of those that died but could've been brought back?
If he were to be honest with himself, no...no he wouldn't.
"Before the breach...."
Angela nodded her head and soon the sound of machinery coming to life resonated around his office. In a blink of an eye, everything had returned to before the abnormalities had breached. Wasting no time, X radioed in and ordered their suppression. He didn't even care about the confused replies before he simply cut the connection and leaned back on his chair.
X slowly was realizing what this job required of him and what actions he would need to prioritize. It was also when he was starting to slowly realize just how detached he was from valuing the life of his employees.
——————————————————————————
Control Team Department
Mike, Dana, and Roxie had a weird sense of dejà vu when they returned from suppressing Scorched Girl.
Mike in particular felt more protective of Roxie and would subconsciously be close to her without him knowing. Something that Dana noticed and felt worried for some reason.
Roxie, herself, felt more hot than usual and kept her distance from Scorched Girl. Which proved to be a good call as the Abnormality suddenly blew up once a panicking clerk walked near her.
Dana had been having headaches, even when they took a seat and drank some coffee. All three of them simply felt drained and unnerved for some unknown reason.
All in all, today was just a tiresome and draining day for them.
At least that's what they chalked it up to.
——————————————————————————
Y/n's POV
"Announcement in Progress:
The day shift has ended,
thank you for your hard work."
I slowly made my way back to the Information Team. The stench of blood and intestines surrounded me and caused the employees near me to keep their distance. I didn't particularly mind and just walked into the room.
I had a weird sense of dejà vu today when I suppressed the new Abnormality. Though I doubted it could've been called a suppression since the Abnormality didn't even breach when the Meltdown ended. I checked inside to make sure that it was still in there and found it as far away from the entrance as it could get.
I simply shrugged it off, but I still had that nagging feeling in the back of my head that something was supposed to have happened.
Someone clearing their throat brought me back to reality and I soon noticed Yesod standing in front of me.
"Captain....the shift has ended." He spoke cautiously, as if it was a top secret.
I chuckled and nodded my head.
"So it seems, but I'd like to stay for a while. Pretty sure someone said they wanted to discuss our game from earlier today."
Yesod blankly stared at me as I still kept my grin. Seeing that I wasn't gonna stop, he rolled his eyes and motioned for me to follow. Just like me, he didn't seem to mind the stench of the results of today, though I found him glancing at my clothing from time to time.
'I guess he's still got that OCD problem.'
We walked out of the room and continued our "discussion" with only a few interruptions. Most being some clerks whispering or disdainfully calling him "Viper". I smiled amusingly but I guess he saw it as me making fun of him as he glared at me.
"I hope you aren't finding it amusing for them to call me such things." He spoke harshly, to which I brushed it off as I looked at him sincerely.
"Not even close, Yesod. Just find it kind of fitting." That seemed to have surprised him as he stopped glaring and widened his eyes a bit. "I mean, it's not entirely what you are like, but it's simple and describes you kind of well."
Yesod remained silent as he turned and faced ahead. A small smile graced his face as he spoke.
"Yes.....I quite like it myself, if I am to be honest."
I smiled as well and bumped his shoulder with mine, though I made sure that it was with the part not covered in blood.
"Yeah, I do too, but back to what we were doing. I'm guessing it's 89-87 and my turn?" I asked.
"88-88." He corrected as I mentally clicked my tongue as I hoped he would've forgotten.
"Sure, sure, whatever you say Mister Viper!"
Seeing my grin, he smirked back and soon we restarted our game of "I Spy" once more.
In the back of my mind, I made sure to remember to give BongBong candy tomorrow.
——————————————————————————