Lobotomy E.G.O::Red Eyes & Penitence Ryōshū/Identity Story
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Speaker | Dialogue |
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The interior of the containment unit is submerged in utter darkness, with not a hint of its walls or ceilings visible to the naked eye. | |
Yet the child confidently strode through the tense, thick, swirling darkness that seemed to oppress the very air itself. | |
Ryōshū |
The pencil-pushers in fancy suits like to lecture us that Instinct Work will be most efficient against this one, but… |
Ryōshū |
… tossing them feed from a safe distance is not my style. |
They pulsate like feebly beating hearts. | |
The white cocoons, each an approximate size of an adult human, hang low to the floor. | |
The child's gaze rises, following the strand that the cocoons descended from, as red eyes light up the ceiling like a midnight forest fire shredding through the dark. | |
Ryōshū |
Hah. Even with this cursed instinct so deeply rooted in your origins… you managed to transcend this drab containment unit into a form of art. |
Within the shadowy containment unit lies an even darker place, trapped amidst the tightly woven cocoons. | |
Entombed in the cell where only the sounds of one's own heartbeat, the skittering noise of tiny spiders, and the cold brushing of threads could be heard. | |
Such tragic horror the deceased employees suffered, this painting of hell, was enough to sate the child's artistic interest. | |
Ryōshū |
Yes… I've never seen art like this so up close in my life. |
Ryōshū |
… Or maybe the ones I did see were not worth remembering. |
The swarm of baby spiders was already starting to climb up the child's leg… | |
… and after crawling to and fro between the child's arms and neck for a while, as though searching for something, they began digging into her flesh with their sharp teeth. | |
However… | |
Ryōshū |
……. |
The child did not wince or blink even as the painful bites began slowly devouring her, and instead glared straight back at the ominous eyes observing her every move. | |
Ryōshū |
I'll admit. This little installation was worth a view. |
Ryōshū |
But no more than that. |
Ryōshū |
As raw as this piece is… your instinct is far from beautiful or pure. |
With that, the child slowly raised her leg. | |
A provocation. That she was about to crush the baby spiders, the entity's children, under her feet. | |
Ryōshū |
One does not choose their birth parent. Yet, they are born with, and saddled with the responsibility to live within their bounds. |
Ryōshū |
Unless you're merely a pathetic, fallen shell of a thing, who can do nothing but grandstand… if you really consider these baby spiders your family… |
Ryōshū |
… shouldn't you be attacking me by now? |
Spider Bud and the child exchanged an unblinking glare. | |
After a standoff that felt like an eternity… | |
And only after the Work was complete did she pull back her threatening feet. There wasn't an ounce of emotion in her eyes when she looked over the baby spiders. | |
Ryōshū |
They seem used to tearing through skin and burrowing into the raw flesh. You've let them feast on my men often, hm? |
Ryōshū |
Is that how a mother educates her children? |
There was no reply from the Abnormality, just as she'd expected. | |
But the child seemed to have decided that it was an answer enough. Or, perhaps, the child decided that the fault of the parent was not of its children. | |
She carefully pulled the baby spiders, who were still busily chomping away at her flesh, off her body and placed them gently on the ground. | |
Ryōshū |
I suppose my question was a waste of breath. |
Ryōshū |
… Hmph. Parents. Fools who can't stand even a moment not spent injecting their children with their own prejudices. |
When the child left, silence once again rushed into the dark of the containment chamber like water flowing into a void. | |
Ryōshū |
Tsk. You look so miserable that I won't be surprised if you were to drop dead at any moment. |
Yi Sang |
……. |
The corridor was full of employees from Teams other than the Safety Team that the child was a part of. | |
The child seemed to have noticed something after a quick sweep of the hallway; she grabbed her two E.G.O weapons. | |
Ryōshū |
The rookies are all huddled together… N.O.V.[1], is it? |
Yi Sang |
This is no "Night of Violet," by which I presume you are referring to a Midnight, that we must contend with; it is the Noon. |
Ryōshū |
What I meant by N.O.V.[1] was— Are you hard of hearing? |
Yi Sang |
Ah, if it indeed was the Noon of Violet you were referring to, then you would be correct. Your men are all gathered abreast one anoth— Captain? |
The other child's explanation was cut short by the sudden sensation of something heavy tapping against his head. | |
Well, of course. The child had raised her cross-shaped blunt weapon with a skull emblem on it… | |
… and was lightly yet repeatedly smacking the coffin-carrying child's head. | |
Yi Sang |
… I am not… panicked. It is merely that I did not gain the benefits of last night's rest on account of the shortness of my slumber. |
Yi Sang |
Thus… would you mind ceasing this continued drumming of my head with your Penitence? |
Ryōshū |
Consider yourself lucky that it's not S.H.[2] that's hitting your head, gloomface. |
One could mistake this for a mere workplace banter between two coworkers on an average day, but… | |
… the rookie employees were all shuddering with fearful anticipation. Clearly, something terrible was afoot. | |
And not even a minute later… an eardrum-shattering alarm blared all across the building. | |
Ryōshū |
We've a D.O.V.[3] on our hands, but *this* is the level of trumpets we're getting? |
Yi Sang |
I would like to repeat myself that this is not an Ordeal of Midnight, Captain. I ask that you refer to it as the "Noon" of— |
Ryōshū |
T.N.W.I.M.[4] |
Ryōshū |
At any case, I am suspicious. It's almost like the manager already knows what's coming… |
Ryōshū |
Got any guesses? |
Yi Sang |
Mm. I have none in particular. It may be as simple as mere competency, for I have heard that the manager was as foresighted from the day he started. Metaphorically speaking, of course. |
Ryōshū |
Tsk, how unhelpful. |
Ryōshū |
Where did all the pencil-pushers go? |
The child looked around, realizing that there weren't any clerks around. | |
Indeed, there were none. | |
Yi Sang |
All were immediately executed on sight. Certain Abnormalities are motivated to breach containment upon a certain amount of deaths, after all… |
Ryōshū |
Hah… what an uninteresting way to do art. |
Netzach |
Uhh… everybody in the Safety Team… Training Team needs reinforcement, so head over there, please… |
Netzach |
Try to stay focused, okay…? Well… everything goes downhill soon anyway, so it's not like it'll matter in the grand scheme of things, but… |
Ryōshū |
That green tin can with brain pickled in Enkephalin's prattling again. |
Ryōshū |
We're missing two men… Hm, are they getting high on Enkephalin like that G.T.C.?[5] |
Yi Sang |
How did you know…? Tiffany, a colleague of ours who recently moved here from the Training Team is currently in an unresponsive state due to over-medication. |
Ryōshū |
… N.F.W.[6] |
The child drops the cigarette, her mouth briefly opening from exasperation. She stared at the group of Safety Team Agents… | |
… before turning away and lighting a new one. | |
Ryōshū |
What about the other Agent? The… bald one? |
Yi Sang |
It is most likely that they are handling the stele that has fallen within the Safety Team's premises. |
Ryōshū |
You'd be better off with them. Ignore what the G.T.C.[5] said, he's hopped up top to bottom on E.[7] |
Yi Sang |
Patently… that is the manager's wish as well. |
Ryōshū |
I'll be the reinforcement for the Training team. |
As soon as she reached the Training Team area, however, she spoke as if she was answering someone. | |
Ryōshū |
Enough crying and fussing. |
It wasn't like there were other employees following her. | |
She wasn't talking to the two members of the Training Team, who were already fighting off the entities, either. | |
Ryōshū |
There's a big plate of meal waiting just for you. Can't you see? |
At those words, spoken with a grin, the terrible Red Eyes all opened wide and began tremoring like a roar. | |
Don Quixote |
Hooh! These footsteps are… Lady Outis! Forsooth, 'tis reinforcements from the Safety Team! |
Outis |
It's 'Captain Outis', not 'Lady'! |
Outis |
Ahm. You couldn't have come at a better time—I just fired my sixth shot. Is anyone else coming with you, Captain of the Safety Team? |
Ryōshū |
……. |
Outis |
Listen, I'm talking to— |
Ryōshū |
The will to spill blood for goodness? We don't need to hold ourselves back with such fancy restrictions just to see some blood, S.F.[8] |
Outis |
… Busy chatting with her E.G.O, huh. |
Outis |
Like her, some employees seem to… resonate with certain E.G.Os. |
Don Quixote |
T-then! Perchance we shall be availed the opportunity to see Lady Ryōshū's fabled E.G.O dual-wielding?! |
Outis |
There's no time to sit here and gawk. Prepare yourself. Moments before we take down the threat, the Qliphoth counters will tick down with a flash of li— |
A bright violet light imbued the stele, just as the Training Team Captain said, but… | |
… before it even had the time to explode, the child leaped into the air, both of her E.G.Os raised high above her head. | |
Movements of her muscles, not steeped in training, but in instinct. | |
An E.G.O-wielding technique not bound by form. | |
While she certainly pales in comparison… her style reminds me of a certain someone. | |
Yes. The one who shielded me then… she who spoke of the pain of the Backstreets… | |
Ryōshū |
Now burst. |
The child perfectly wields both E.G.O weapons and effortlessly shatters the violet, colossal stele to pieces. | |
Perhaps she is quite like her, at least in this regard. |
Footnotes
World of Lobotomy Corporation Headquarters - 1 Identity Stories
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