The agents of this thread are pretty fucking too: Let's Play Lobotomy Corporation

An archival space for the threads that made it.
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Aw, Malkuth's lonely.
TeeQueue wrote:Image ...In the event that Judgment Bird does speak, we urge you to please disregard its advice.
I see that Portal reference, and I love it. :3:

as someone who has -31, I don't blame you at all for skipping it.
also to continue my theme of pointing out traps, note that Backwards Clock has an information unlock at five uses. that unlock is the one that mentions that you don't want to trigger it with an agent below level V. you can't unlock it on the first day without triggering the clock.

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You CAN, but it involves being very sneaky. I'll be showing that off soon enough. :v:

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Abnormality Roundup 5

Since we're only halfway through Central, there's not a lot of thoughts to have here-but I'm incredibly satisfied with how the facility is pulling together. We've got annoyances, but they're annoyances we can deal with, and that's what counts. One more bird!

All-Around Helper
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First off, everyone should take a peek at the full artwork, because it's wonderful. :allears:

Anyways, Helper's a super simple abnormality. Don't get Normals or Bads, and it'll be fine-and it's got a preferred sweet spot of level 2-3 to get the best results out of Instinct and Justice training. Its breach is easy to handle and simple to trigger, its gear gives 3 suits with decent Red and Black resistance, and overall it's a solid boon to any facility. Not much to say about it, because it's very good.


Judgment Bird
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A third of Birdzodia so we need it, Judgment Bird is not really good for any kind of optimized training. Fully half of the Pale damage work abnormalities in the game, it's risky to work with prior to getting ALEPH/Knight of Despair's gear. For your effort, though, you get amazing gear capable of allowing you to work with any abnormality that shows up with relative safety-0.5 Pale is tied for second-best in the game, and 0.5 is good in every other stat as well. On a more personal note, Judgey here was the first WAW I ever got, way back when I first played through the game. Working it with a 1.5x Pale armor is dicey, but doable, and getting its gear on day 19 or 20 makes for a smooth early game. With a super simple breach requirement and incredibly forgiving Good work thresholds Judgement Bird is a good Bird. :allears:


Warm-Hearted Woodsman
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...this guy. This guy. Okay so he's a problem, since working him with anyone who has 3+ Temperance will reduce his QC to 0 and make him unworkable the rest of the day. However, working Attachment will cause your agent's Temperance to skyrocket at the end of the day, leaving them no longer able to work it the next day. The simple solution would be to work anything else but Attachment, but with only a 45% work rate and a Temperance of ~35 it's a straight 52% chance of success for any other work type to succeed each box. However, it has a Bad threshold of 0-8, and a total PE box number of 18, so if our luck is slightly worse than average we wind up with 8 or less and our workday with it is done. Its full observation bonus will add +8% to that and brings it up to a safer 60%, but to get that we have to hit observation level 4, which means we'll have been working with it already-the smart play would be to just dedicate one agent to getting everything via Attachment, and then having a second guy show up to work it with something else whenever it melts down from then on.

Overall it's frustrating to handle, and the one upside to it is that it gives 3 decent suits of HE armor, alongside 2 decent weapons. I wouldn't have picked it if it was against better abnormalities, but this is another one of those 'best of a bad situation' picks. :lobcorp:


Backward Clock
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Backward Clock is a sort of Godzilla Threshold with limits on what it can deal with. It clears all meltdowns in our facility, and suppresses most threats, with the most pressing immunities being Midnight Ordeals and things like Birdzodia-sadly we cannot cheese the oft-hyped superboss by time travelling. Still, we can defeat any Dusk or any combination of abnormalities breaching from our facility 1/day, no questions asked. It's very simple, and unlike most tools it probably won't kill everyone. Just make sure not to send anything but a level 5 agent to a fully charged Clock. Trust me.

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Backward Clock's description says nothing happens if an employee below Level 3 works with it. Does that mean you can just send a Level 2 employee there as often as you want and it won't even charge?

I got the game when it was on sale and have been trying to play along with only the information I can remember from the LP. I just made it to Day 16 on my third attempt. I was hoping for an anomaly capable of breaching for the request, as well as something to train Justice with. I got my wish. O-05-76 :gonk:

I actually had to google how to deal with that one, because I couldn't even do one work on it.

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In order: Yes, and this is how to quickly cheese it to max observation level. Good catch!

Ooh, I love -76 but it's not great material for LPing for. Specific reasons. I look forward to giving the entire thread a puzzle when we see it. Once you know, though, it sure turns out to be perfect for both of those things, huh? :v:

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TeeQueue wrote:
Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:14 am
Just make sure not to send anything but a level 5 agent to a fully charged Clock. Trust me.
Or, in simple terms...

don't get clocky. :haw:

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Day 23: Story

Music: story 4
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Image But what did fertile really mean to them? Is it worthy of all the tales of conflict and pain that took place? Numerous stories began and vanished. And in that process, people started to lose faith.

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Image At a certain moment, a new civilization was born. Countless things changed in the blink of an eye. Along with the emergence of new technologies.

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Image That’s right, just as the first humans wanted, those technologies had the intention to create a fertile world. People wanted a better world. And that aim for a better world set forth new spectacles ashimmer, a previously unimaginable sight that burst forth to the unprepared mind.

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Image One thing is certain; it is what enabled me to speak with you now.

In summary: Singularities. They're a big deal, which every one of the Wings has. Each one is some sort of super-technology which allows the world to flourish. Angela doesn't say it, but ours is probably related to the abnormalities.

Music: Town - Alone in a Crowd
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You're welcome. :colbert:

Image They seem more motivated than usual. It’s rare to see such a lively atmosphere; it’s even getting me excited.

Image “Lively” isn’t really the right word. It’s more like, excited over a trivial thing. All because of a new manager. That’s nothing special to us.

Image Be more understanding, Tiphereth. This is Lobotomy Corporation. News is rare other than the usual word of someone’s death. The employees need something to talk about.

Image Well, if it makes them more efficient at work for even a short time, then yes, I’ll be understanding. What I can’t get is why they’re so noisy about it all.

Image Weren’t you excited the first time a new manager came in as well?

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Image It’s still worth the excitement, even if it’s not the first time to happen. Do you remember? Back then, when we made a bet over whether the manager could save an employee who was at 95% mental corruption.

Image Of course I remember. I bet that he couldn’t, and you placed your bet on them being saved.

Image Yeah, though the employee died, unfortunately.

Image I was so happy with my victory, I insisted on keeping up our bets, even though the result always ended up the same.

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Image Well, because you always lost. Winning wasn’t fun anymore.

Image I never bet without thinking it through, though. I always placed my hope in him, thinking: “Maybe this time”.

Image It’s a shame that you never got to win once.

Image Well, maybe if we had infinite time, I guess a day would come when my hopes could come true.

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>I could hedge on it happening.
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Image Perhaps the bet could have turned out differently if we’d met sooner.

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>Don’t bet on a pipe dream.
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Image I’ve always had faith in you, and I still trust you to save them one day.

---

Routes Merge Here

In summary: The employees are chattering more than usual about the manager, and Tiphereth doesn't really care since she's seen it so many times. Tiphereth still thinks it's a cause for excitement though, since it's talking about something that isn't death. Tiphereth and Tiphereth used to make bets long ago, and while Tiphereth always bet that the manager would succeed, Tiphereth always bet the manager would fail-and she'd always win. Tiphereth hopes that we'll be the manager who can save an employee one day.

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Image More of this?

Image It's harder now! Just because you did it once doesn't mean you'll do it every time.

Image It's important to practice, to make sure you can do all you can.

Image In that case… Hey, how about you two make one more bet? Think I can make it without having to rewind things?

Image Hmph! Don't be ridiculous, of course you'll fail.

Image Well, I think he'll succeed this time.

Image Again? Alright, I guess I don't mind winning one more time.

Image We'll see about that.

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Image Mm…

Image Why, Hod, you seem worried.

Image Oh, um… it's nothing, really. I had a counseling session scheduled, but the employee hasn't shown up.

Image Oh my! Do you think they found another source of enkephalin?

Image Um… I haven't given any more out since that time, so…

Image I see! Then they must not be showing up because of that. We can't have any addicts on staff-who was it you were waiting on?

Image I'm sure it's not that kind of problem!

Image No need to be shy. You know I've worked hard to be a competent Sephirah, and I'll lend you my talents for this.

Image Um..!

Image I'm sure if I just ask everyone, I'll be able to find the missing person! I'm off!

Image Thanks for the thought, but I really don't need that..! Malkuth! Hey, Malkuth!

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: We have a bet to win. :getin:








Image Oh, there you are, Mr.Blond! You're supposed to be talking with Hod right now!

Image I don't need to be talking to anyone. All these programs and requirements… S'enough to make me miss Safety.

Image Don't be like that! Malkuth's looking for you too, you know.

Image Eww… Fine, I guess I'll make an appearance. We both know I'm one of the best-adjusted people here, anyways.

Image You've certainly not let things change your everyday pattern. Still, that doesn't mean regular mental health check-ups are bad.

Image It's just so banal, though. And it's like… What does she care?

Image She's your boss. It's her job to care.

Image Well, I'd appreciate it if she wasn't such a pain in the ass about it. I swear she's not doing it for us, but because it makes her feel better about having so many employees die.

Image Mr.Blond!

Image Come on, we all know it's true.

Image It's a hard job for all of us, and everyone has their own way to cope. :colbert:

Image Yeah, and mine is not dealing with other people's bull.

Image Please at least think about going in the future? She's trying her hardest just like the rest of us.

Image Fine, fine… but only 'cause if I don't she might sic that Control freak on me again.

ah yes, it's that issue I mentioned: repeating missions. it really doesn't help that this one isn't even challenging to begin with, limited grinding might be an issue in the long term, but it takes a while to really be a problem unless you're losing all of your already trained agents. fortunately we've got a mechanic coming up that'll make things more interesting.

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Day 23: Gameplay

Music: neutral 1
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Tiphereth's researches are all introducing a new gameplay mechanic-bullets. We'll get into them later on today, but basically each bullet is a shield against a specific damage type.

Physical Intervention Shield: Red damage shield

Trauma Shield: White damage shield

Erosion Shield: Black damage shield

These will let us mitigate damage of specific types, and since almost all of the Ordeals in are Red damage…

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Red shields it is. :getin:

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Some slight reshuffling.

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Image Who's that?

Image I hired on a new agent to work the Woodsman.

Image These stats are terrible!

Image That's the point.

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Image You guys had better not screw up!

Image Just don't do anything dangerous.

Image Hm… is it just me, or is my interface a little different today?

Image With the completion of the Central Command department's research, we have managed to successfully activate our automated turrets.

Image Ahh, I see…

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Image Hello ma'am! Agent Gaia, reporting for duty, ma'am!

Image Easy there, new guy. No need to salute.

Image Sorry ma'am! I'm just a little nervous about my first day, ma'am!

Image Alright, well how about for now you start by working with the clock.

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Image It won't… move…!

Image That's perfect. Keep failing just like that.

Some of you in the thread mentioned (or guessed) this already, but sending a level 2 agent at Backward Clock prevents it from gaining any lights, but still counts as a work. We could max it out by just sending Gaia at it 5 times. So we do that.

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Image Wait, we have TURRETS?!

Image Ugh! You've had their technical specs on your desk for a week, Manager. They're only installed all over the facility, geez.

Image So why have we been having to beat Ordeals by putting our agents in danger?

Image Conventional weapons are not effective against Abnormalities, X. These turrets are not capable of using the E.G.O gear required to properly face an Ordeal.

Image So the turrets are useless. Great.

Image Spoken like a true amatuer. Just you wait and see, Manager!

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Image Okay, team. Let's take a close look at the new abnormalities before we act.

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Image Remember to keep in mind that both of these abnormalities are very dangerous… wait. Are we missing someone?

Image I wouldn't worry too much about it, sir.

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Image Oooh… this cutie feels… different? It's like you're missing something. Don't you worry, li'l fella, I'll complete you~

Image It seems mostly inoffensive… I'll have Boksi work with it.

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Image MANAGER!!

Image huh-what?!

Image This cutie... This cutie!

Image What are you on about?

Image That face! That body type! The way it tries to copy whatever it sees! And that super deep breathing… I call absolute dibs! :swoon:

Image I think she likes it, sir.

Image ...let's just let her do whatever she wants. How's it going with you, Boksi?

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Image No need to worry about me, sir. I'm going to show off why I'm an elite.

Image We should be fine here, Sir.

Image Manager!

Image Malkuth? Something wrong?

Image I noticed that you haven't provided any orders to any of the upper Sephirot yet! You've been focused entirely on Central all day!

Image Oh, yeah. We've got three abnormalities I need to get figured out, and I'm on a time limit today so I'm focusing on them.

Image So… we're not doing anything today?

Image Nope. Don't need you. Work meltdowns if you get any, but that's it.

Image ......I understand, manager!

Since we're on a strict time limit and WAW/ALEPH gear is very expensive, I'm playing very differently than normal today, using exclusively our unresearched Abnormalities in Central outside of working meltdowns. I don't like doing this because it completely stalls training for every agent aside maybe 2-3, and with Nothing There taking up Mizu's day that leaves just Gaia and Boksi to get training-with Talow occasionally switching in to cover should I need to. We should just be able to get all of the gear from the abnormalities we're missing today in exchange, provided nothing goes wrong. Given that we're still well over the normal stat curve this feels like a good trade for right now, but I don't plan to make a habit of it.

It also takes longer than my usual play style, and makes for kind of boring footage. I got over an hour of video this time and 90% of it is the same 3-4 agents working the same 3 abnormalities. :v:

Image Speaking of, Tiphireth. Have Gaia get to work on the Woodsman.

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Image Hello, ma'am! I didn't expect to see you outside of the cell, ma'am!

Image You're a newbie, and this thing deals White damage. I'm just here for if you lose it.

Image Oh… yes ma'am.

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Image Oh, come on! This time I sent someone with a low Temperance, it shouldn't have been an issue!

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As I mentioned in the Abnormality Roundup, Woodsman reduces to 0 on a Bad result as well, and for an agent like Gaia working anything but temperance, we have a ~50% chance to hit a success on any given box. Since it has 18 boxes and counts 8 successes as a Bad, we only need to get a little unlucky to wind up in this position.

Image :stare:

Image Manager, you should have known better.

Image It's not like I planned for it! I hired Gaia because he sucked, I didn't think he'd be that good at it!

Image Oh well. I guess that's going to be a restart. Looks like I win again, Tiphereth.

Image Aww.

Image Like hell. Put him to work on All-Around Helper. We'll get something out of this yet.

Image Huh? That's cheating!

Image No it's not, you never said I couldn't keep going after making a minor error.

Image Hmph!

Image I believe in you, Manager. I'm sure it'll be fine. We just got the reports on the two new Abnormalities, after all.

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Yin is an abnormality which has a preference for Insight work, but also a decent enough success rate with Repression and Instinct to be usable for three different stats. Since it deals Black damage, it's also very good for all three of them. It's a nice, basic abnormality with no weird escape conditions for right now-we just have to not get Bad results, and its threshold is very forgiving. This will change.

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As for Mizu's new friend Nothing There… It deals big Red damage (enough to leave Mizu at ~half health after a mediocre work), and while it has decent enough Instinct work rates, its rules are… to make a long story very short, we only want to work it with agents who are at Fortitude and Justice 5 anyways. Justice 5 because otherwise it loses a QC, and Fortitude 5 because it has a similar hidden effect to 1.76 MHz-but while 1.76 gives a 1.2x multiplier to base work rates when an agent has Fortitude 1, Nothing There gives a 0.8x multiplier to base work rates when an agent is at Fortitude 4. This would get even smaller if they were at Fortitude 3 or less, but those agents just immediately panic instead so it doesn't matter. As long as we throw a Fortitude 5/Justice 5 agent at it, though, we can use it to farm up Temperance.

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Image Slow day…

Image The Manager's in one of his moods, it seems.

Image We should still do our part! We have meltdowns to work! Hod, Sephiroth needs Justice, send him to Repress Blue Star immediately. Yesod, your team has a number of agents who the mirror barely affects! Send one of them to handle its meltdown.

Image You're being too loud, Malkuth… Keep it down.

Image This isn't the time to be asleep, Netzach!

Image Manager's not even looking up here. That's the perfect time to sleep.

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Image Quite the day, but nothing for one with a pedigree such as myself.

Image I haven't worked this hard in forever. Ah, wait for me, cutie! I'll be back soon to whisper in your ear once more!

Image You've really got a thing for that Nothing There thing, huh?

Image Can you blame me? It's like if you took six Ppodaes apart and sewed them back together as one creature! That's ultra cutie level!

Image That's… technically true, I guess.

Image Hey! Don't just ignore me!

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Meanwhile, Gaia is having a close call with All-Around Helper.

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Image Could you try not getting my agents killed, Manager?

Image I'm fine, ma'am! Just a little bit julienned, ma'am!

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Violet Dawn.

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Image You know, I can't help but feel like we should be doing something.

Image Like a party?

Image No, not like a party. Has Malkuth seemed… off to you?

Image No?

Image Oh. Maybe it's just me, but she's seemed even more high-strung than normal.

Image I'm sure it's no big deal.

Image Mmm… maybe I'm just being paranoid.

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Image That's the Ordeal, everyone. Back to work, Boksi, Mizu and Gaia.

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Image Cutie Here's given up all its secrets!

Like with Blue Star, the weapon costs 222 and the armor is another 120. Since I've dedicated an entire day to focusing on this thing, we'll be trying to get both today.

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Image This guy's really tricky to deal with..!

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Image Holy shit! Gaia, how are you still breathing?! :psyduck:

Image Just… doing my job… ma'am..!

Image Here. Lean on me. We'll get you back to the main room.

Image Yes, ma'am..!

Image ...y'know maybe I should get him some Instinct training.

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Image Ah, a Green Noon. This will be a perfect test, Manager!

Image For those bullets?

Image Exactly.

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Image Tylana's facing the enemy now. Go ahead and select the coordinates you want to fire at with that cursor.

Image Like this..?

Image Yep! Just confirm, and the nearest turret will take care of the rest.

*BANG*

Image What the crap?! :psyduck:

There is a satisfying 'bang' sound every time we use a bullet, it's pretty great. :allears:

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Image Ignore the explosion, Tylana! Just fight!

Image Oh, now the buzzsaw doesn't hurt at all.

Bullet shields are the key to making Green Noon (and Red Noon to a lesser extent) nonissues. Each one tanks 50 HP worth of damage of the relevant color, and allow even relatively soft employees to deal with them without a risk of dying. Green Dusk will remain a problem for a while yet as 2-3 Noons at once could still overcome our ammo stocks. Each bullet also uses 1 of the 10 we get right now, but these are refilled every meltdown level so there's not any reason to hold back. :hellyeah:

Anyways, we red bullet everyone and for the first time have absolutely no trouble with Green Noon.

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Image ...that was awesome!

Image I know. If you want more? Don't screw up.

Image I never do, but wouldn't that mean you lose the bet today?

Image Oh! Well… Shut up!

Image It's okay, Tiphereth. I hope he succeeds this time, too. :shobon:

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Image Done getting Yin's information together. You're welcome.

Image Good work… but I don't know why you're showing this to me.

Image Someone needs to run it up to Information.

Image ...right, I'll go take care of that.

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Image Hey guys, we just got the last bunch of new data we'll be getting for the day.

Image Ooooo… Dataa… Lemme seee…

Image All yours. :rolleyes:

Image Hooraay…

Image So… If that's it, what do we do for the rest of the day?

Image There's not much else left to do for now.

Image In that case, why not have some fun?

Image But… I have iinteresting iinformaation right heere..?

Image You can read it later, kiddo. We've got some spare time on our hands, and we should throw a party with it.

Image And where would you be holding this party? I'm don't want any more cleanup on my plate at closing time.

Image Why don't we have it in Safety? Netzach doesn't seem like he'd mind.

Image Hm… Hey, Netzach. My team wants to have a party in your department. Any objections?

Image zzz…

Image I'm not hearing a no.

Image Alright then. But… try to keep it down. It'd be terrible if he were to be woken up by accident. And make sure the meltdowns get worked.

Image Alright. I'll call Control.

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Image What's going on?

Image Party in Safety. Bring everyone in the Upper departments.

Image A party?

Image I knew today felt like a party day!

Image Your sixth sense is developing nicely.

Image Do we have permission for that?

Image Yesod was okay with it, so long as we don't let the place go to hell.

Image Good enough for me.

Image Is something going on?

Image We're holding a party in Safety, since nobody's doing anything anyways.

Image A party..?

Image Yep. Sending the call out now.

Image Well… Alright! I'll take care of the rest of the work up here.

Image Alright. See you later, boss.

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Image ...what's going on? It's too loud to nap in here… and why's everyone outside?

Image HAHAHA! We're having a party!

Image Cool. Pass the enkephalin.

Image We don't have any!

Image Then it's not a party. Did you at least bring beer?

Image I grabbed some from the vending machine on the way over.

Image Toss me one. You guys woke me up, it's only fair.

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Image ...Hod, where are our agents?

Image Um… I got a call sending them all to Safety. They're having a party, since there's nothing to do?

Image I need someone to get hit by Punishing Bird. It doesn't care about clerks. Also, someone save me some cake.

Image One of you guys, take care of it!

Image :sigh:

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Image I should pick up some cake on the way back. You want any?

Image :buddy:

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Image X, the equipment extraction is complete.

Image Great. I'm going to have some cake. Wrap things up for me.

Image For safety purposes, managers aren't allowed on the work floor. It could be dangerous if an abnormality were to escape, and it's unknown if you could mentally withstand the strain of seeing an abnormality without the perception filter.

Image ...this job sucks, Angela.

Image You have my sincerest condolences.

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Image ...And that's the story of why I never open my eyes.

Image How iinteresting..! I didn't knoow that you could naavigate with an EEGO suit…

Image I'll have to try that.

Image Be careful. Tenebrais tried it and it didn't work at all… so I figure it might not be something just anyone could do?

Image Hey everyone, I'm getting the signal that the workday's ending. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

Image Alright team-let's go wrap things up!

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Image Good first day, Gaia. You pulled it off-even if it was dicey.

Image Thanks, ma'am. I just wish I'd gotten that thing's gift like Seyser did.

Image Just keep it up, you'll get one someday.

SeyserKoze getting the All-Around Helper's E.G.O Gift gives me a chance to talk about its special ability: It's supposed to add 3% to your success rate on any Insight works. Due to a coding bug, it instead adds 3 to an agent's work success stat when working Insight (which does nothing unless it brings an agent's stat past the next 5 or 0). There is a mod to fix this, and I will be using it.

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Image Good work today, everyone. We made it without a problem.

Image Of course we did. My work with Yin was exactly what should be expected of a person with my pedigree.

Image Even though I had to cover for you when the overload got too high.

Image That's not important! Any good leader knows the value of delegation.

Image Today was super refreshing! I haven't worked with a cutie like that in forever~

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Image So, did he wind up waking up?

Image Joined in, actually. Just wanted a beer.

Image ...Ah, of course.

Image Don't sound so disappointed, boss.

Image Let's just finish things up for the day.

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Image That's pretty good. How about… Our lives are a difficult road, but we must climb them until we reach the top.

Image It's a little choppy. Maybe "We must walk this path regardless." Climbing makes me think of mountains.

Image :hai: As expected, you're very good at this.

Image ……...what are you two even doing at this point.

Image We're working on our dark, mysterious sayings for when we show up and save the day.

Image It's important that we match all your talents if we want to survive around here.

Image That's not one of my talents. Shouldn't you be working?

Image Everything's all done again.

Image Malkuth finished it while we were out, and went to her office.

Image ...did she say anything?

Image She was muttering something, but I wasn't really paying attention. Didn't seem unusual, at any rate.

Image Mm… Well, good work, everyone.

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Image Hey… I won?

Image Hmph! Dumb luck, that's all.

Image Sure, let's go with that.

Congratulations to Medea on joining the maxout club.

Music: never frozen bottom flows
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T-02-43: Unsurprisingly, not a single employee volunteered to retrieve the corpse of their cocooned colleague.
D-03-109: ...and my dear employees, I do hope you all put on the gas masks we distributed to you before we enter.
O-02-101: Those who succeed in the hunt are granted with one of the very feathers that countless hunters once yearned for.

Three entirely new abnormalities today. We'll start with -43, a nonbreaching Instinct trainer that's a TETH level. It requires a minimum of 2 Prudence to work, and is entirely unremarkable otherwise. A bit weak for where we are, but it's a safe pick. Then there's -109. This one is… special.

Another community unfavorite, -109 is an ALEPH who nonetheless people still like anyways. It acts like a plague when worked, infecting other members of the facility and turning them into drones-if we're going to work this thing we'd have to keep whoever's working it apart from everyone else in the department to avoid having them infect anyone. While Central is actually the ideal location to do this, I'd rather not deal with it until we get a little further and have a couple extra researches.

That leaves -101, which is a WAW-albeit a rather tricky one. It requires bad results to get its QC back up and prevent escapes, and because it deals red damage we need to make sure to send someone with good Red armor to deal with it. It's also interesting in that its weapon is only available by suppressing it. I might try for this, we have Red bullets now to negate the worst of its effects and our facility can deathball decently well already.

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So yeah, I take -101 given the other two options are both bad. But hey, we have one more pick!

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Except we don't. Remember how we picked Yin yesterday, and I mentioned that 'predestined choice?' That's this. It doesn't give us a selection quote, and we can't get out of selecting it, so…

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Let's see what Yin's other half has in store for us. :sigh:

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Cactus.

New Guidelines

Yin
Nothing There

New Gear

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Requirements: Level 3, Temperance 3
*Not affected by Attack Speed


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Requirements: Temperance 3

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Requirements: Level 5, Fortitude 5

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Requirements: Level 5, Fortitude 5

New Story

Backwards Clock
Yin
Nothing There (Part 1)
Nothing There (Part 2)
Nothing There (Part 3)
Nothing There (Part 4)

... Okay, Nothing There might just beat Ppodae as the most horrifying thing I've seen out of this game, that story is... A thing.
an another note, -101; an excellent addition to the Lob corp's aviary. always get more birds.

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Nothing There is...

Yeah. :unsmigghh:

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This was a really fun update. This LP rules

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A Bird, did you say?

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It’s a bird, but not a Bird. :(

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Mechanics Talk 16: GUN

Bullets are the final piece of our core gameplay, and as we go through the Middle Layers we'll be unlocking a total of eight of them. These bullets can be selected by clicking on the hotbar on the bottom of the screen, or by pressing the number next to them, 1-8 (for instance, our Red Shield bullets are '3'). We get a maximum bullet count which increases as we go through the game, and they refresh at the end of each Meltdown level. Each bullet hits everyone within a specific radius, so if possible it's best to pile everyone you want to hit into an elevator in order to make a single shot hit everyone. They fall into four types: Healing, Shield, Slow, and Execution-and today I'll be briefly going over each of them.

Healing bullets heal either HP or SP. They start at 25 points of healing per bullet, and a research is supposed to increase this to 40. It is bugged and does not work. There is a mod to fix this, and I will be using it.

Shield bullets block damage of a specific type, and come in Red, White, Black and Pale varieties. Each shield will soak a total of 50 damage (based on the agent's defenses) before it shatters, making them strictly better than Healing bullets-Lobotomy Corporation rewards proactivity and damage prevention. Shields do not work when trying to work an abnormality, as they shatter when walking into a cell. Shields from shield bullets will also automatically break after 15 seconds. Worth noting is that Pale shields block 50 damage after the % calculation, so if an agent with 120 HP takes 50 Pale damage, the shield would block 50 HP damage and the agent would take 10 damage. Amusingly, this means that a 15 HP character with a Pale shield is effectively immune to any Pale attack that deals less than ~350 Pale damage. :v:

Slow bullets lower the Movement Speed of their target by 50%. These bullets work on panicking agents, as well as Ordeals and breaching abnormalities. They're best used to slow down fast abnormalities so that your melee agents can hit them, or to slow down wandering- or breakout-type panics so that your melee agents can hit them. Remember: they do not slow down enemy attack patterns or any of their internal AI timers, just Movement Speed.

Execution bullets kill all clerks and agents in the area where they're fired, full stop. This is most commonly used to get rid of clerks, panicking wandering-type agents who cannot be caught, panicking clerks, breakout-type panics who are trying to breach dangerous abnormalities, clerks fighting something that will just kill them, clerks who look too smug, and clerks. The most important thing to note about these bullets is that their removal is the one way to get rid of employees without angering the Clerk's Rights Activist abnormalities-this is incredible. On top of that, some Ordeals and abnormalities unleash particularly nasty attacks whenever they're in a room with an employee, and removing clerks from the equation will let us more easily control when and where they attack. They're practically indispensable-tied with Shield bullets for the best use of your ammunition.

Naturally, I will be putting them off until much later than they'd be available if I beelined for them.

I swear I'm good at this game. :eng99:
Last edited by TeeQueue on Sat Aug 29, 2020 9:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

Execution bullets are amazing, but it's almost a shame once you get them because it renders clerk culling shenanigans completely redundant. sure it's way easier but it's nowhere near as satisfying as finding some way to trigger red panic on command and have one of your agents murder a bunch of clerks, or breaching a wimpy abnormality and just letting it rampage for a bit.
Did I mention I once had an abnormality that got upset if there weren't enough deaths, and three different Clerk rights sqaddies several full departments before I unlocked execution bullets?

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Only in this game can you say something like "each bullet is a shield" with a straight face, without comment.

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DKII wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 12:23 am
Only in this game can you say something like "each bullet is a shield" with a straight face, without comment.
:lobcorp:

you kind of get used to the abstract weirdness of core concepts in this game, bullets that are shields is nothing when you're beating people sane with a christmas-leather-club, or using a clucking chicken head to defeat a giant man in a straghtjacket with a hammer for a head.

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Day 24: Story

Music: Wake up
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Image It seems that an employee who wanted to become intimate with you put it there. If I were to give my personal input, I don’t like cacti much. There could be various reasons for one to grow a plant. However, its vicious thorns are not something worth enduring like those of a rose, as it is not pleasing to the sight. Nor does it produce valuable sap like a maple tree. I’ve also never seen one grow a flower bud.

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Image That possibility is something I’ve never witnessed, as it may be that all cacti I have known spread their roots into barren soil.

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>Yes, it might.
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Image Well, if you’re so certain about it, then keep it. This place doesn’t even have sunlight, but who am I to stop you?

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>No, it probably won't.
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Image Do you think it rude to get rid of something you’ve received as a gift? Be careful, it could prick you when you reach for other things strewn about your disordered desk.

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Routes Merge Here

In Summary: We have a cactus on our desk that an employee gave us. There is no deeper meaning here, no purpose, no mysterious foreshadowing, and there is nothing more that needs to be considered. We simply own a cactus. Cactus.

Music: Forgotten Entrance Of Memories
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Image If you’re looking for Tiphereth, she’s still at the Middle Layer meeting.

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Image I’m bad at holding conversations. I kinda miss the managers who were more talkative at times like this.


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Image Have you noticed that someone’s memory and emotion bleeds and seeps out of us? As you’ve seen, we act angry, feel happy, want things, and look sad, even though we’re machines. We even have our own weaknesses. Why is that? What’s inside of us?

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Image I tried to find the answer… But I really couldn’t get it. I’m sure you have that answer.

Music: mirror dimensions
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Image Maybe there’s a reason why there has to be imperfection? We’re machines, yet, not machines…

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Music: Frozen Moon
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Image ...

Image Tiphereth, it’s troublesome to have a conversation that’s this fun.


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Image But it can be rebuilt anytime we need, right?

Image Well, it’s still an asset to the corporation, so I would prefer not to have it go to waste. Tiphereth, perhaps we should explain it to the manager first.


Image Huh, why?

Image I’ve told you, Tiphereth, the human mind is a fragile thing. It’s not capable enough to perceive the existence of beings like us in our wholeness.

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Image Humans are susceptible to the unknown. The scene doesn’t always have to be graphic to break the mind.

Image Ugh… there’s so much to be mindful of… Why can’t they just replace managers with machines? We could simply replace them whenever they try to do something stupid, like how we replace Tiphereth.

Image Tiphereth, there are things only humans are able to take care of. The founder of Lobotomy Corporation must have had a reason for assigning a human manager.


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Image I know that place.

Image Tiphereth, what are you talking about? It’s where we always go during work.

Image I don’t mean that. I remember what happened there last time.


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Image You do? That’s great. Thank you for helping me, like you always do.

In summary: Tiphereth seems to think we know something, and suddenly starts breaking down when he mentions they're machines yet not. Tiphereth shows up, realizes he's broken, and calls Angela so that they can replace him. :ohdear: They'll be doing this somewhere where the filter we've been using is weaker, apparently.

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Image It's a shame about Tiphereth. I'm sure he would have loved to hold winning over your head, for once.

Image ...Get bent, Manager.

Image Ah. Yeah, I'll get back to work.

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Image Let me make sure I follow: Tiphereth said that somewhere in your memory is the reason why the Sephirot are so weird?

Image Pretty much. So they know something I don't, and I apparently know-

Image Something about this company. And you're sure you don't remember anything?

Image Yeah. I've been feeling those gut instincts getting stronger lately… but that's it.

Image The ones that let you know what to pick?

Image Yeah. Sometimes I get ideas of how to deal with things now, too. Not that it helps much, given that…

Image Mizu exists, yeah. She's gonna get her face chewed off by an abnormality someday.

Image Anyways, if you find anything out, let me know.

Image Will do. Hey, so-

Image Bishop? Who're you calling?

Image Later. *click*

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: I accidentally prove that I'm the most badass moron in the facility.








Image Oh, hi Malkuth. It wasn't anyone important. Just family.

Image How nice! I'm glad you have so much time to spend on frivolous matters.

Image Well, that's because you've been taking care of everything.

Image Of course! My job is the one thing I can take care of perfectly.

Image Oh, I'm sure that's not true. :rolleyes:

Image But it is. I had to work incredibly hard to get to where I am right now, you know? I remember long before now, how I'd fumble and fail at everything… Trying my very best, every day...

Image Hey, boss… are you okay?

Image Why wouldn't I be, Bishop? I'm clearly fine, can't you see?

Image You just seem like you've been pushing yourself a little too hard lately.

Image That's not a problem! The new Manager doesn't have any idea what he's doing, so I have to work hard to make up for his slack. And my agents are all able to meet standards, but when the other departments call them away for this or that I have to take care of things there, too. But it's fine, because I'm a very competent Sephirah. That's what I was made to do. That's why… I'm not an 'even Malkuth'… I'm the best Sephirah in the building at my job… and the Control team isn't like those other departments...





Image Hell. If this keeps up, I might not even have two weeks… I'll have to stay on my toes.

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Well, that's not ominous at all.

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I'm sure this will be perfectly fine.

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A+ meme, I love that scene and that show

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I don't know how this thread keeps finding ways to top itself but it does.

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I would say this thread is in A Good Place right now. :v:

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Day 24: Gameplay

Music: neutral 2
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Image Medea, prepare to intercept-

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Image Already got sights on it. I'm settling a score.

Image Tenebrais, what are you doing.

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Image Kicking its ass, what do you think?!

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Image :fuckoff:

Image :gibs:

:derp: THE GREAT TENEBRAIS HAS PERISHED! ALL IS LOST! ALERT THE OTHERS! AAAAAAHH!!!

Image ...I gave her the stupid bullet shield. You can't blame this on me.

Image Well, it's not my fault your agents are out of control.

Image Manager, the clerks from all over the building have gone into open revolt.

Image Soooo… what, they're shooting themselves in the head again?

Image Manager.

Image :sigh: Fine. We rewind, but because her and that gear're more valuable than a few extra hours of working.

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Retry count: 6. I wanted to see if Tenebrais could tank a Punishing Bird chomp and the answer was 'not without a little extra finagling.' I regret nothing. :colbert:

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Image Whatever, let's just take it from the top.

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We still have a choice between White and Black bullets, and between the two I generally rate Black defense higher since it can kill agents, and it's what Scarecrow uses. We take the Black shield.

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Some equipment shuffling and… oh, that's an odd glitch. Storytime! So, Kaori's been having her name get changed to Aurora every single time I close/reopen the game, and I have no idea why. I've got a mod that lets me change it back to her name, and I've been using it every time I open the game to grab footage. For some reason despite it supposedly costing 0 LOB, it costs 1 instead. Weird mod interaction bugs, I guess. :shrug: Things should still be fine, our LOB account is starting to snowball in a good way.

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Image You guys had better not screw up!

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Image He's just gonna' be like that until he's replaced, huh.

Image This happens from time to time. I'm used to it. You should be focusing on the abnormalities, Manager.

Image Ah-right. Thanks.

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Our first new Abnormality is a bird, but it's not a Bird-it will not help us form Birdzodia.

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The second one looks like the other half of the Yin amulet, of course.

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Image Hmm… This cutie is more of a hottie, I think..!

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Mizu's work got a good result, and now the new bird has a fiery aura in its cell.

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Image Oh… wow! Talking to you seems so much easier than just cleaning the room, sir! I'm glad you latch on to it so well!

Meanwhile, I bite the bullet: We're finishing Woodsman today, but to do ensure it I'm going to be having our one person who can work with it buff their Temperance out of the range where work will be safe in the future. Eh, we'll manage.

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Image Since Tiphereth's on the fritz, we're taking the orders from Tiphereth today. She's already given me a dossier, and now that Mizu's done it falls to me to give everyone their marching orders.

Image You're the only one here who's using anything less than WAW gear, mosshead. They're just letting you work as a middleman so you feel special.

Image Yes, well, why don't you put that new ALEPH gear to use and work with our new bird? Mizu reported it dealt Red damage, so it's all yours.

Image Sweet.

Image Hey Talow! Taaalow, where are you going?

Image Oh, me? I've got a pendant to handle.

Image Oh. Tools. Ew.

Image Yeah, I'll see you in a bit.

Tenebrais's armor has a 0.2x Red modifier, making her effectively unkillable by conventional Red damage attacks. It's very useful for working Abnormalities if we just don't feel like thinking about damage.

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Image Count to twenty, put it back. Count to twenty, put it back. Got it.

Yin's Management Guidelines from yesterday showed that holding this amulet-called Yang, of course-for more than 30 seconds would drop its QC by 1. We absolutely don't want it to escape, so we have to get Yang's information a little bit at a time. Still, there's nothing stopping us from just grinding it out all at once.

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So we do that, of course.

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Image Same shit, different day, I guess.

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While Mr.Blond is dealing with the Bird, I unlock the information on The Firebird. This particular abnormality is one of the least-liked types in the game, in that its QC decreases on good results. Its preferred work rates are also relatively high, making it very easy to set this thing free either by accident or on purpose.

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Image Orders from the top, everyone. Bishop, Chinely, you're being called down to Central. Omni, you're staying here. That's all.

Image No work today again, huh…?

Image I wonder what they want me down there for?

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Image Judging by the CCTV footage… I'd say it's bird-related.

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Image It's time. Remember to follow the protocols.

Image Control's calling. We're all reporting downstairs.

Image Ah… the time has come once more to use my skills.

Image ...Yeah, I'm going on-

Image No y'dont, kiddo. We're all reporting.

Image Maaaan…

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Image I finished gathering the information on the woodsman, ma'am!

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Image Hey, good work! We're getting called to lower, let's see what that's about.

Image Whatever it is, it's about a 6 on the hair scale.

Firebird is somewhat special: the main reason Firebird requires goods to lower its QC and escape is because it is one of the few abnormalities which gives us a new weapon upon suppressing it. Tenebrais goes to work on it, and it'll be time to pick a fight with a WAW soon. :getin:

When suppressing a powerful abnormality, the deathball is incredibly important-doubly so for one like Firebird, who will return to its cell on its own after a while. With returning abnormalities like this, once they decide to go back they can no longer be attacked. Enemy at a sliver? Too bad! Try again. We need to keep our agents together, but the floor we're on makes that difficult.

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One of the weaknesses of Central Command's layout is that the entire floor is so spread out that there's no way to get everyone to stick together in a single spot like an elevator. In order to combat this, the best strategy is moving agents constantly from the lower floor to the upper floor using the hallway to merge two groups together into one and then constantly and quickly moving them in as small an area as possible to keep them packed together. If agents are always en route, they won't be able to spread out. The downside is that this is a very high-maintenance process, requiring a lot of pausing.

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Image This is the weirdest exercise I've ever been in!

Image It's iinteresting… I wonder whyy we're having to meaandeer like this…

Image It is not ours to worry, but only to act.

Image Oooh… how saage…

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Image Oh, he can still talk?

Image ...

Image There are a few automated responses, but right now Tiphereth's not good for much else.

Image Right. Let's get down to it.

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Image I'm going in. You chuckleheads had better be ready to back me up.

Firebird has only two abilities. The first is a passive ability which deals 5 Red damage to anything in the same room as it every second or so. This would have been a problem, but we have Red bullets now so we'll be fine as long as we don't get cocky.

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The second ability kicks in when we attack the bird. It begins to turn on its side, which is your cue to get everyone the hell out of the way. (Not pictured: Tenebrais getting the hell out of the way.)

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Once it's turned on its side, it dashes to the end of the room like All-Around Helper does-but unlike Helper it deals 120-150 White damage to anyone in its path. Don't worry about panic, though, Firebird has the very helpful ability to instantly kill anyone who it lowers to 0 SP.

Time limit aside, this is one of the less annoying WAWs to suppress. The higher-risk abnormalities do not mess around, and many of them have a tell attack like the Firebird does which will maim anything in its path. Most attacks like these have a cooldown, so this is our cue to go in and attack-just remember to bring Red shields!

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Image This is going way too smoothly.

Image Nonsense! This is a plan that I came up with, so of course it would go well!

Image I thought 'don't be there' was the Manager's plan originally.

Image That's too vague! You could never trademark it!

Image It's charging again! Heads down!

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Image It's fine, it just charged through a bunch of clerks.

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Image Just because I'm trying to keep them alive and they occasionally kick ass doesn't mean they count.

Image Pile on, boys!!

It's not difficult to avoid Firebird's big attack once we know the tell, so the only real question is if our team has enough total damage to handle the bird before it decides to go home.

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It does. :c00lbert:

Image Is everyone okay?

Image Everyone seems to be intact.

Image I'm okee-dokie! Wouldn't mind tussling with this hottie again.

Image I just can't believe we got into a fight with a phoenix.

Image My eyes are burning and I can't see right anymore, ma'am.

Image Now that you mention it…

There is one other quirk to fighting with The Firebird, and that is that anyone who hits it gets that special orange effect currently visible around all of our agents. What does this do?

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It cuts the agent's work speed stat in half, and can only be removed by having the debuffed agent work with Firebird again. Given how many agents have it, this isn't really feasible. Judgement Bird's E.G.O Gift has an unlisted passive which protects against this effect, but nobody has that right now, either. Normally this is just annoying, but we have Blue Star in the facility and it kills anyone who works it for longer than 60 seconds-which is now everyone.

Well… almost everyone.

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Image Listen, Blue Star. I would really prefer it if you stopped sucking my pencils inside of you. I need those to dr-o my work. Do my work.

Omni's job today is to handle Blue Star in case it melts down so that I don't throw anyone else inside of it by accident.

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Image What a lovely feather. Where'd you find it?

Image That Firebird left it behind when we defeated it. It seems to be some kind of E.G.O, so I'm turning it in until we can observe what it does.

Image I understand. I'll get to the bottom of it as quickly as I can.

Image Doesn't that just mean you'll be handing it off to me?

Image Um… more or less. Thanks, Yesod.

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Image Hold on, I'm gonna' go settle a score.

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Image Hey, chill for a minute.

Image Huh? Why? You saw that bird fight earlier, this suit makes me invincible to Red damage.

Image Practically invincible. We don't know the upper limit on that bird's crunching power, it might be able to go through even your suit. Best not to risk it, right?

Image ...Tch. I'll wait 'til a day I get to work with Knight.

Image I don't think you'd survive even then…

Image Shut up and watch me.

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A little bit later, we get all of The Firebird's information taken care of-just 100 more PE boxes and we'll have all its buyable gear. This also lowers it to 1 QC as well, so here's where I do something dumb:

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Image Couple seconds. Everyone get ready.

Image I can't help but think this can't be good for all the clerks around here.

Image It's fine, Tylana. Small fry don't count.

Image This isn't the time to be talking! It's coming!

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During this breach we get into an interesting situation here. The Firebird is about to charge, and our deathball is split between the melee attackers and the long range attackers. The correct play here is to grab that front group (all of it), and have them run towards the room above to get them to run past the Firebird. The team in the back can simply run through the door they're right next to.

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The end result looks like this, with our agents completely untouched by the Firebird's big charge attack. We finish it off shortly thereafter. Firebird can give out up to three feathers, so this would be good… except we've already beaten it up today, and it only gives out one of its E.G.O weapon per day. Further suppressions are useless.

Being an idiot, I forgot this and we'll be beating it up a third time. :eng99:

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Violet Dawn.

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Image So how's fighting the Firebird?

Image It's basically a phoenix, so it's hot and kind of stuffy. Not being weak to Red makes it bearable, but if you get hit by that charge it's all over anyways.

Image The bullets help a lot, though.

Image Oh yeah, those seem so cool. BAM out of the wall and then we're protected like that!

Image It'd be better if they didn't explode right near your ear.

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Violet Done.

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Image You're releasing the bird again?

Image I want more of those feathers. They're useful.

Image :sigh:

The fight goes just like the two others, and I'm very pleased to find out just how good this facility is at chewing through Firebird.

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Image The gear?

Image Firebird's suits have been extracted fully, which leaves only the Woodsman.

Image Mmhm… Focus on it, then. We're finishing this today.

Image Yes, Manager.

Image Ghh… :doh:

Image X, are you alright?

Image Fine. It just turns out that staring into a monitor inside a dark room all the time gives you a bit of a headache. Doubly so when the thing you're staring at is a flaming bird.

Image I see. Let us proceed with caution, then.

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Luckily for us, Gaia's Work Speed is already in the trash so the Firebird's debuff doesn't really change how long he takes per work.

Image I'm just glad to be contributing!

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Image I just realized you weren't around for either fight, Mr.Blond. What've they got you doing?

Image Portrait duty. I'm keeping whoever got the other end of that thing safe by not participating.

Image Want to trade?

Image Nah.

Image Fighting the bird is good practice anyways, Fat Sam. We should learn as much as we can.

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Image I'm all done, ma'am! I think that's just enough PE boxes to finish getting everything, ma'am!

Image Let's see…

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Image Yep! It looks like we're all set. Good work, Gaia.

Image Thank you, ma'am!

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Image Hey… should you be stepping on the corpse of a clerk like that?

Image Ehh, it's probably fine. Nobody really cares. And I mean… when I do this it goes crackle-squish!

Image Oh… ew… I didn't need to see that.

Image Me either! It's the sound I like.

Image Nngh… Angela, remind me to seriously question our hiring practices.

Image You are the one in charge of hiring, X.

Image Then remind me to read the damn resumes fully.

Image Yes, Manager.

Image Manager, here's the information on the feather we acquired.

Image Don't you mean 'feathers?'

Image No, sir. Only one appeared today.

Image You mean we did all of that for nothing?! Gah!! :doh:

Image Sir?

Image You are dismissed. X, it seems you are unwell. Perhaps it would be best to end the day?

Image But… gnngh. Yeah. Okay. I need to lie down.

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Image zzz… Huh? Oh, that's the bell. You guys finish up, I'm going for a beer.

Image HAHAHA! Fine work today with the Blue Star, Control-boy!

Image It's Omni, sir.

Image Omni-boy then! You should take off that mask sometime! Can't see that smile if you have the mask on!

Image I don't suppose you'll be sticking around to help us clean up, will you?

Image I should get back to Central. I'm sure the others are having a hard time without me.

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Image Things sure are going smoothly, huh.

Image That's what happens when all the clerks survive.

Image Ah, you're cleaning up today! Good, good. Make sure you be extra thorough, and let me know if you see any agents who are doing something outside of the policies we've put forward, okay?

Image Sure.

Image Great. There were some indescrepencies raised in our paperwork at the last Upper Sephirot meeting, and I can't let that stand! Something about altered access logs, so focus on people going where they shouldn't be-I'll be happy to handle the removal process from the Control team.

Image Got it. Have a great day.

Image Of course!

Image ...You're not going to really do that, right?

Image Of course not, Chinely. This is a lead, and I follow leads.

Image You're so cool, captain! :swoon:

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Image I'm the Sephirah of the all-important Control team! Of course our results would be this great!

Congratulations to Tenebrais on joining the maxout club. :golfclap:

And of course...

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No abnormality selection today, since there'd be nowhere to put it.

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Angela delivers another A lecture.

New Guidelines

Warm-Hearted Woodsman
The Firebird

New Gear

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Requirements: Temperance 2

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Requirements: None

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Requirements: Fortitude 3
*Not affected by Attack Speed


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Requirements: Level 3, Fortitude 3

New Story

Yang
Warm-Hearted Woodsman
The Firebird







Image It's just been a hard three-and-a-half weeks… longer if we count the redos. That'd be… what, four weeks? A month?

Image ...

Image Uugh… even thinking about that hurts. Yeah. I just need some rest, is all. Just gonna… shut my eyes… and have… a nap…





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Image :wth:

Image What... was that, just now? Some kind of… something? I could almost hear...

Image Ngh… Forget it. I'll just have some coffee instead.

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Malkuwuh-oh.

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I found this elsewhere and thought of LobCorp.

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Yeah, I always thought that the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were cheated at the end of that story. Shame about the whole "going on a murderous rampage" thing though.

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Abnormality Roundup 6

Instead of a full analysis I'll summarize with this: I feel comfortable. This facility has its quirks, but our agents are powerful, our gear is good, and it's getting even better with every passing day. This facility is a strong one, and we're in a very good position going forward.

Yin
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Yin is a deceptively safe Abnormality, who only gives trouble if its sibling Yang is held for too long or if we get bad results with it-which is unlikely. This is because it's a nightmare if it breaches. Its breach also breaches Yang and the two start trying to wander together-and it deals hilarious damage to our agents when it breaks out. It regularly emits decently high Black damage around itself, and it also has a tell attack involving firing a laser on the ground, which deals a massive 100 Black when it goes off. Most annoyingly, it and Yang have to be suppressed in a short window-if either of them are still active the other one will revive after some time goes by. It's not a suppression I want to do, but since it's easy to avoid we can simply reap the benefits of an abnormality good at training 3 different stats, with probably the best Helmet slot gift in the game-in addition to a hefty stat boost it comes with an 8% chance to heal back any damage as soon as it's dealt, effectively negating the attack. Nice.


Nothing There
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Nothing There is a feast-or-famine ALEPH. If a facility can handle it, then it gives out great gear and works as a decent finisher for Attachment training. If it can't, it breaks out and kills everyone. It will steal agents' skins, hide in the corridor, and give you one bullet to stop it before it goes on a rampage, or just break out the normal way and fight people. It has three different forms, starting with the one we've seen, then a freaky flesh egg, and then a people-killin' body that would take too long to describe in full here. Suffice to say, it would kill us right now unless I managed to pull off some incredibly complicated dodging, and I look forward to going over the multiple layers of pain when it inevitably escapes on us down the line. You've probably note that I haven't mentioned anything about its training potential, and that's because Nothing There is best served polishing off stats that are already at level 5 but not yet maxed-specifically Attachment and Instinct. Its equipment alone makes it worthwhile to have around for a while anyways, 0.2x resistances are really powerful.

I am quite sad to say that I couldn't find any clean crops of this thing's sprites. Oh well, we'll see them eventually. :unsmigghh:


The Firebird
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Upside: Fiery Bird is an exquisite Instinct and Repression trainer, and a passable Attachment trainer as well. Downside: Good results will make it breach on us. Upside: We want it to breach on us three times to get the weapon. Downside: It's still probably too much trouble to be worth the training after that. Firebird, sadly, is one of those abnormalities that we want to get all the gear off of before relegating it to the ignore box forever. It could be worse, but it could be a lot better.


Yang
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Yang can recover SP very quickly while it's equipped to any agent, which seems good-but it's functionally useless because of Yin's QC rules. Holding it for 30 seconds reduces Yin to 1 QC, holding it for another 30 frees it entirely and brings about the advent. The only time this should be touched is if it's melting down, and then only to grab and immediately replace it.

When breaching, it reflects any ranged damage dealt to it back as White damage to the attacker, forcing us to fight it in close quarters where its aura of White damage can hit our agents. It's easier to kill than Yin, but since we're on a timer after either one dies in practice this just makes it more difficult to coordinate their suppression. Still, it's the cost of admission for Yin and Yin's gift is just that powerful.

Firebird is less bad then it sounds when you realize that bad results increase its counter, making it fairly easy to stop it from breaching, though since you've already got good options for stat training (like Yin) it's probably not worth the hassle unless you really want that feather-circlet.

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Finally caught up! Tiphereth are adorable as fuck, so here's my lazy contribution to the thread's fan art.

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I had to patch two images together, and removing the background got messy.

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I'm pretty sure Tiphereth would object to that ranking.

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Grumpy Turtle wrote:
Fri Sep 04, 2020 5:23 am
I'm pretty sure Tiphereth would object to that ranking.
Which one? :v:

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I think Tiphereth and Tiphereth would object to that ranking.

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Definitely both.

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Day 25: Story

Music: story 3 ending
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Image Memories, obsessions, wishes, agonies, and the feelings of happiness and sadness. Stronger emotions have stronger impetus. The combined effort of numerous people has brought Lobotomy Corporation to where it is now. We had to keep on with various experiments.

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Image There was not a definite shape at first. Then it slowly assumed a form. Finally, A understood while he was studying the changes… Their abilities, where they lived, their jobs, and their strengths were not so important. What was required was a massive amount of energy.

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Image It’s always floating around, left to rot at the back of everyone’s head. Twisting your mind until you are left with nothing but self loathing. The subconscious. Come to think of it, I haven’t properly asked for your opinion.

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:raise: Weird swerve, but okay.

>Of course.
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Image I will let A know of your thoughts when he returns. However, do not expect him to give you a warm greeting. A is a person who conceals his mind.

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---

>I don't really.
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Image Actually, I’m not sure if I want to meet with him right now, either. What I’ve just said shall remain a secret to A, of course. When his long journey ends and he finally returns…

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---

Routes Merge Here

In summary: Angela gives us a few tidbits about L Corp's background, and then asks us if we want to meet A. Apparently she doesn't really want to, probably since he's even more closed off and difficult to read than she is.

Music: Wake up
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Image You must see them as humans, just like yourself. Irritation, smiles, desire, and frowns color their faces… A range of emotions much more human than myself, perhaps. However, are you aware of a key fact?

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Image Only I would fit that criteria. Haven’t I been telling you since the beginning? I am the one and only truly superb AI here. To witness the essence of things is not at all important in this place. All that you see is distorted and filtered quite heavily. “Everything here is constructed just for you.”

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Music: Tenebris Aeterna
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>Are you really Tiphereth?
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Image That dumbfounded expression never ceases to amuse me. To tell you the truth, this part is usually where it gets boring, but that great expression of yours does give me a chuckle.

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Image All thanks to that stupid “AI Ethics Amendment”. Next, here is… The place where we were born, and where we will return to someday.

Music: STOP
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*The sound of a machine revs up.*

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*The sound of a press crushing something*


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Image Well then, Tiphereth, I will send the next one over whenever he’s ready.

Image Thank you, Lady Angela.


*Mechanical door opening*

Music: never frozen bottom flows
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Image What’s happening, Malkuth?

Image Netzach asked me to fetch a document from the other Tiphereth!

Image Oh, I’m afraid it’s not ready yet. Something urgent turned up. And make sure to tell Netzach that he should show up himself next time.

Image Well, Netzach said he’s a bit busy. I’ll tell him to visit you another time then!


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Image But I’m having fun with this errand! Oh, you’re replacing Tiphereth right now. Looks like the cycle’s getting shorter. It must be concerning, Tiphereth!

Image Don’t worry about me, just be mindful of your notebook! It looks like it’ll fall apart to shreds at any moment by the looks of it.

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*Mechanical door opening*

Music: Frozen Moon
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Image Nice to meet you. I’m Tiphereth.

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Image All right.

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>He seemed to want to say something to me.
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Image Tiphereth is overloaded. He did seem to have some issues from the beginning… But it’s only gotten worse with time. We have been replacing the machine often, resetting it and leaving only a small portion of the data intact.

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---

>What happens to him now?
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Image Ah, are you talking about the machine we just discarded? New errors could pop up if the old one is not completely terminated. And that’d be very troublesome on my end. While “I” am in charge of Central Command, there are two of us at the same time.

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---

Routes Merge Here

In summary: :stare:

I think I'll let this speak for itself. Instead, here's some bonus content I didn't want to put in the middle of all that! First off, there's a missing dialogue right after Tiphereth's true form is revealed, before Angela introduces her:

Image I won’t have to introduce myself again, will I?

Secondly, the first choice in this section has only one dialogue option. There is no second option in the game files, but despite this there's still dialogue for a second choice to be picked:

Image It looks like you’re surprised, but I’m sure we already told you several times that we’re machines.

That's all that's here, which means it's time to scope our new mission.

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Image So you've finally decided to acknowledge me, huh?

Image If you pull this off, I'll provisionally acknowledge that you're not a total waste of time, I guess.

Image I'll take it.

Image You still sound shell-shocked, Manager. Can't believe it?

Image Can you blame me?

Image Easily. Call me when you're done with the work, I'll be pulling double overtime to pick up the slack around here.

Image Right. Later, Tiphereth.

*beep, beep*

Image Huh… Malkuth's paging me? What's she wa-NGH!

Image My… head…! GAH!

(Malkuth previous story: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Music: Romantic
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Image ..............

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Image When I looked over the list of participants, I couldn’t find my name on it. I mean, there’s probably a ton of reasons behind it, maybe I’m just not good enough for the experiment yet… But, may I join the experiment too?

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Image I’ve learned a lot here. I’m sure I can help you in some way. I’ll be sure to not disappoint!

Image What… what was that..?

*beep, beep*

Image Right. The call.

Music: UNKNOWN from M5
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Image .......

Image It’s sad to not have enough talent, isn’t it?


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Image That they don’t acknowledge you. That they don’t even care about what expression you may be making. That they feel no need to see what you’re doing, as they’ve already come to a conclusion.

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Image It really does sound excruciating. But in reality, the moment I completely lost my fingernails, I felt nothing. You stare at the flesh where your fingernails used to be, and just before you lose consciousness… When you feel that you aren’t yourself anymore, you start to laugh frantically.

Image Even though it’s not funny at all.

Image And on the ground you catch a glimpse of someone’s shadow, and their feet as they look down on you.

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Image When the person who disliked looking back so much finally turned around, everything was over. Did you see the fragments of despair from there?

Image Or were you staring at the bits of my fingernails scattered on the floor?

Image That was the exact moment I knew true helplessness.


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Image Now, what about you, manager? Have you ever felt helpless to control anything?

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Image ….....

Image Come on, please tell me.


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Image Rewarded? What are you babbling about? I've never-AAGH!!

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Image She once went on a long, winding filibuster of why she needed to finish the experiment, but I don’t remember the details. Whenever she was told that she wasn’t ready yet, I could see the strong desire in her eyes. It was a craving, a bizarre obsession.

Image If another person had been in my place, they may have turned around for the sound of her hasty footsteps. Cogito was something that she couldn’t access at her level of authority. The only task she was ordered to do was record the changes that occurred in the test subjects.


Music: STOP
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Image When I finally realized what was going on, half her teeth had fallen out, and…

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Music: Boss Warning
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In summary: Malkuth is breaking down. She apparently used to be someone named Elijah. She remembers how she died as Elijah, and is blaming us for it. Weirdly enough, we get a flashback to it too.

Image What the hell was that…

Image Hello, X. How are you doing?

Image I'm… fine. Fine. Malkuth, though...

Music: Dear Lorenne
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Image Manager, there is something I hadn’t informed you of when we spoke for the first time. The Sephirot of course wholeheartedly want to meet you; they admire you and follow you… However, at the same time, they earnestly yearn for you to be swallowed up in resentment and curses. Please be careful with them.

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Image What I mean to say is you are free to go back to your daily routine. It’s no big deal for me to fill their roles if some of our Sephirot go mad. Though if you do, then you will lose something important forever…

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In summary: The Sephirot both admire us and want us to suffer. We can ignore their challenges if we want and press on like normal, but if we do that we'll miss out on something that can break the cycle-whatever that is.

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Image Please, simply rely on me so that we can continue as before, X.

Image ...No. My employee has decided to screw with me. Again. Last time was a draw, but I've grown a lot as a manager since then.

Image This will be incredibly dangerous, X. Several previous Managers have met their end while attempting to suppress the Core of a Sephirah.

Image I can rely on everyone else to help out, and if things go badly I'll just rewind. Don't worry so much.

Image As you wish, X.

Image Just tell Tiphereths to be waiting for that research data when I'm done. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, right?

Image It is Tiphereth, Manager-but I shall inform them.

Image Thanks.

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Malkuth tries to kill us because she's an AI and this is a video game.








Image It's still…

Image What do you mean, sir?

Image Listen. There's no clerks moving around here, and have you seen Malkuth at all today?

Image Come to think of it… She said she had a meeting, but not since then.

:siren: :siren: :siren:

Image This must be what he was talking about… You two, we're getting out of here, now.

Image What's going on, sir?!

Image I don't know and I don't plan to find out. Come on, both of you!

Image Wouldn't it be more appropriate to stand here and face whatever's coming together?

Image Like the great unemployed ninja, Izuna!

Image If you want to stay here and die to god-knows-what, that's fine by me. I don't plan on biting it today.

Image :swoon: That's our boss. We should go, Omni!

Image Huh? But didn't we just agree-

Image If we go with him, we'll be the plucky side characters. And plucky side characters…

Image Never die! That's brilliant!

Image I know.

Image Are you two coming or not?

Image Image Yes sir!
Last edited by TeeQueue on Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

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:stare:

Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Malkuth tries to kill us because she's an AI and this is a video game.
We-ll shit.

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