Inside the facility—
"Employee Harumoto, proceed to 'Schadenfreude' containment and perform Instinct work. Ensure you follow the management notes at all times…"
"Employee Dan, your sanity is approaching the threshold. Return to the Information Team main rest area to recuperate…"
"Employee Phoebe, proceed to 'One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds' containment and perform Communication work…"
"Employee Audrey, proceed to Information Team Corridor Two immediately and suppress the Crimson Dawn spawn…"
"Hod—who among the employees is closest to Level Five overall? Justin? Understood."
"Employee Justin, proceed to 'Der Freischütz' containment and perform Repression work…"
"All employees, keep away from your department's main rest area. The Violet Noon will appear shortly…"
"Justin, proceed to 'Schadenfreude' containment and perform Instinct work…"
X issued order after order.
Because DAY 15 involved no new Abnormality containment, today was, in truth, relatively easy.
Collecting boxes for E.G.O. production, refining tool Abnormality logs, directing suppression of ordeals, scheduling overtime to raise staff proficiency…
In short, for Lobotomy Corporation employees, it was an ordinary day.
And yet, just as X checked off his plan, issued the end-of-day command, and rose to leave—
Click.
The door opened.
A figure stood in the doorway, framed by soft light that outlined her flawless silhouette.
But the air seemed to thin in an instant, and the nerves X had finally relaxed snapped taut again.
"…Hi?"
X offered a stiff greeting.
Running into Angela at this moment made him feel awkward and unsettled.
He couldn't help thinking:
To her, I probably look like a kid caught in the act.
After all—she hadn't appeared in the morning, and then there was B's sudden disconnection…
"Ahaha… good afternoon, Angela."
X tried to make his smile look less rigid.
"Feels like I haven't seen you all day… did something happen?"
"I went to clean up the 'rodent.'"
Angela watched X's evasive gaze without trying to hide anything.
"I know what 'B' did to your system."
"I also know how she used sweet words to mislead you."
She had taken yesterday's words to heart. From the moment she entered, she kept her eyes open while speaking.
And at a time like this, X almost wished she'd go back to speaking with her eyes closed…
Being stared at like this was pressure of a different kind.
"…Even so, I chose to wait," Angela continued calmly.
"With something worth waiting for, life here becomes less… dull."
"That is because I trust you. And because I wished to give someone who never should have returned here… a chance."
"But unfortunately, someone kept ignoring my goodwill."
Her voice dipped slightly, carrying an indescribable disappointment.
"So I had to act—before everything became irreversible."
"I believed the trust we built was enough for you to ignore those words spoken with ulterior motives…"
"But she still succeeded in planting a seed of distrust in your heart."
"No. I do trust you, Angela."
Unable to endure the accusation hanging in the air, X blurted out, defensive.
"I'm not doubting you. I just want the truth about the company—the way you'd understand both sides of a coin. That's all!"
"The truth…?"
Angela frowned.
"Sometimes you are only one step away from it. But you must weigh the value of truth."
"Is truth really that important?"
"Getting an answer may be dangerous. Is it truly worth exchanging that risk for it?"
"Yes," X said firmly.
"I refuse to live in falsehood. Even if I'm powerless to change anything, it's better than knowing nothing."
Then he pivoted:
"So what did you do to 'B'?"
…
Silence fell.
This time it was a long stare between Angela and X.
…
"At the moment she crossed the line, no one ever saw her again."
Angela spoke first at last, breaking the tension.
"If you truly want the so-called 'truth,' then focus on your work."
"And… respected Supervisor, remember—"
She paused.
"In this company, the only one you can trust is me."
With that, she turned and left, abandoning X in the office with her words.
…
X started thinking again.
Even Angela, who claimed to be the company's core system and could erase a whistleblower like B without sound, seemed unaware of the existence of the "inner Lobotomy Corporation."
But B knew about it—perhaps she had even contacted Farah, the self-proclaimed head of the Observation Department.
One-way transparency? So opaque that even Angela couldn't detect it?
He knew many things on the surface, yet the pieces felt like disconnected fragments of a puzzle.
Useless, and yet essential.
Useful, and yet impossible to assemble.
"In the end, I'll still have to ask B or Farah directly…"
With that conclusion, X forced himself to set the issue aside and shift his attention elsewhere.
"Focus on work…?"
Angela's words were, in their own way, a hint.
That meant: as far as work itself went, he wasn't doing anything wrong.
"Fine. That does remind me."
X exhaled, stood up, and picked up his file.
"I just got that employee's medical report… I'll take it to Hod."
"I just hope Hod doesn't collapse when she sees it… She's been so happy believing her program is helping people…"
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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