The agents of this thread are pretty fucking too: Let's Play Lobotomy Corporation
I made a bit of art that might help our manager really connect with Malkuth.
Wh-WHAT?!
Actually, I just noticed with that closeup, but Malkuth's meltdown form is essentially a pile of sludge that's physically burst out of its metal shell. She's even got a bit of her metal chassis that she's still standing in. The designs in this game are really fascinating to look at up close. You can see a lot of little things.
I love how Control Team is basically like a little family. Robo-Mom, Fixer-Dad and the chuuni-twins.
Day 26: Gameplay
Music: neutral 1
One more thing, manager: When I woke up this morning I was feeling particularly inspired. I made a couple of changes in our systems and employee training regimens, raising efficiency by at least 12%.
Holy hell, Malkuth. This is really useful. Good work.
Thank you, manager!
First things first, Suppressing Malkuth gives us some new upgrades. Firstly, if you remember the Mechanics Talk about LOB gains, we now have the better formula mentioned there. This will give us a not-insignificant amount of bonus LOB every day to use later on. Secondly, the base speeds of all our agents have increased from 40 to 45, the equivalent of 12.5 points of Move Speed for everyone. Finally, meltdowns will no longer spawn in the Control team. Gone are the days where 1.76 MHz's static covers everything because I forgot it was melting down-it simply cannot anymore. This also removes the 4 abnormalities in Control from the total pool of Abnormalities which can meltdown, meaning fewer will spawn as well-though with only one department immune to them we won't see the effect until we hit higher meltdown levels.
Since today ended in a 6, it's also a Memory Repository day. This is important because…
We cannot do Core Suppressions on a Memory Repository day. (This is actually why I didn't put any in the story update.
) All we have to worry about today is a single new Abnormality.
Let’s make the best of today as always~
You guys had better not screw up!
Just don't do anything dangerous.
Now that we're off emergency detail, let's see… Gaia, it looks like it's your turn with the ol' Long Bird again.
I'll do my best, ma'am!
And Mizu…
THERE'S A DISTURBANCE IN THE FACILITY!
What?
I must go. A cutie needs me.
Our new Abnormality is some sort of creepy mushroom. Once you notice that the base is a bunch of screaming faces, you can never unsee it. Sorry.
Hello, ma'am! Fine day we're-
Not now! Cutie!
Cuuuuuuuutiiiiiiiiiie!!
I'm very flattered, but-
Not now! There's a new cutie!
...Ah. You mean the abnormality. 
Talow! I'm here for the cutie!
Oh, hey Mizu. Twee just went inside.
...what?
Finally, a chance to put those techniques I learned from watching Mizu to work.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Talow, I'm back-oh, Hi Mizu!
Shh. Shh shh. Come here. We speak.
Sure. Did you want to know how to work with the mushroom?
I know how to treat cuties. No. I just want to say that if you ever, ever steal my spot again, I will have words. With your face. Using my fists. As words.
Uhm… okay?
Okie-dokie. I'm gonna go say hi to the new cutie now~~
That was scary..!
She certainly has her moments.
It's okay everyone! The cutie has decided it likes me best after all. Also it likes attachment work, but it gets you all sporey so you should probably clean up after.
So you're headed off to the shower?
Heeeck naw! I said you should clean up. I'm gonna savor it.
Oh, alright! I'll call Central and work something out.
Our new abnormality, Giant Mushroom Chunk, is a complicated thing. The first thing to know about it is that every time we work with it, it increments a secret counter on our agents by +0.2. If it ever hits 1, bad stuff happens at the end of the work. Working with another abnormality gives that agent a -0.2, so it's necessary to swap back and forth should you be working with the Chonk.
We'll be having Twee and Talow trade out working the Chonk and working with Yin or Nothing There today, in order to prevent incrementing that counter. Meanwhile, Boksi is preparing Firebird to breach since we need to suppress it two more times at some point.
Let's clean this room up. I definitely don't want a repeat of you.
The second arbitrary rule of the Chonk: If we go 3 works without doing an Insight work, its QC lowers by 1. This means that Talow is going to be solely on cleanup duty today, since his stats are maxed and we don't need to train him any further right now.
Alright everyone. It's time to line up and get ready for the Firebird again.
Being surrounded by my admirers never gets any less awkward.
Which admirers are those, exactly..?
Immediately, things go wrong: The Firebird is charging to the right in this shot, and this is disastrous. We don't have a room to the right of this hallway, so if I were to engage it here and it were to use its charge attack again, we wouldn't be able to dodge.
All units, fall back!
We try engaging it in the main room once it enters, but…
What's it doing?
It looks like it's returning to its cell.
Then let's suppress it before it can get back in.
You newbie! That's not how it works at all! Once an abnormality decides to return home, the ability to suppress it is deactivated. It prevents pointless deaths and injuries!
But… the feather…
There's always next time, manager.
Firebird has a time limit, and if we don't suppress it in time it decides to return home. We'll have to try again in a bit.
Well, at least things are moving smoothly.
It is a marked improvement to be able to properly contact you, manager.
At any rate, we should try Firebird again.
That's the plan.
I'm sure you can do it, sir.
This time, it flies in the right direction and the fight plays out exactly like it did the previous three times on day 24.
Good job, sirs! Um… but why are we walking away from it?
Because it's an explosion. You always walk slowly and purposely away from an explosion.
You… do, sir?
Hmmmm… sounds pretty coool, come to thiink of it…
Exactly.
Don't worry, I've got the feather right here ready to put into storage.
Orders from the top, everyone! We've been told to stay on standby for any ordeals, but other than that we've got time off. Omni, be ready in case Blue Star melts down again.
Ma'am!
In that case, I'll be back in a bit. Sound good?
Alright. Take all the time you need.
Oh, can I come too?
Actually, I need you to stay on hand up here in case an ordeal shows up.
Roger that, sir!
Angela… Punishing Bird is out.
It is, Manager.
Why is Hod not chiming in like she always does?
Rather than monitoring the situation, she's in the middle of a training class for one of our groups of clerks.
I see. Well, we'll let it do as it likes for now.
So here's something I found out while recording this episode: If a Sephirah is ready for its core suppression, that Sephirah actually stops chiming in during breaches (and presumably deaths/panics as well) in their department. Since Hod and Yesod have the suppression button now, they're not talking until we fix them.
Talow.
Do all fixers insist on appearing behind someone without warning, or is that just a you thing?
I think we can both say that I'll definitely survive. That thing that was supposed to kill me didn't. Malkuth's fine, too.
Oh, that? That's not what was supposed to kill you.
Then what was that?
Don't know. It's new to me.
...you're kidding.
Oh, it's Bishop. Not every day you see someone from Control bother to come down here. I was just making a midday cup of coffee. Want some?
Yes, thanks very much. This isn't over.
It never is with you.
Crimson Dawn.
Crimson D'oh! One of them let Forsaken Murderer out, but on the upside I can show off that Malkuth's robot form persists even in day-to-day talks. She even has new lines for everything to reflect the change in her outlook.
Just keep walking. Don't look down. Don't think about it.
Meanwhile I lose a bunch of clerks to an exploding clown. No big deal, clerks don't count.
Crimson (finally) Done.
Around now we finally finish unlocking our new Abnormality's information, alongside its true name-Little Prince. The contamination rule and the Insight rule are the only major twists to this thing, but since it can and will instantly kill agents if they're not followed, they make it difficult to work with. It's still worth farming for its gear, particularly that spear. Oh yes... We want that spear.
Now that that bird's been basically beaten back, Boksi's breaktime's bound to be a blast.
How long did you spend on that sentence instead of literally anything useful?
Oh come off it, it's not my fault you don't understand the cunning wit of someone who went to an actual school.
You're right. I prefer slapstick. Wanna see?
...no, I don't think I do.
Crimson Noon.
Crimson None. Seriously, the only interesting thing that happened was the last clown blowing up on the clerk in the background behind the banner, who survived because of Red bullets.
My dude, I heard an explosion! Are you okay?
Better than that guy.
...Fair enough!
Manager, the energy has been gathered and we are prepared to end the day at any time.
We'll get to it eventually. There's still that mushroom's gear to get.
Just a little more until…
X, we're receiving an urgent page from Medea in the Training team.
Seriously? Okay, patch it through.
Manager, we have an emergency!
What broke out this time?
No, manager, it's Hod. Tell him what you told me, Gamma28.
We were in the middle of training, and she started acting really weird, lashing out at everyone for no reason! Then she started talking to herself and went offline! How are we supposed to work like this, manager?!
You're kidding me.
It would be best to check the security footage to confirm what transpired.
Yeah. You don't suppose…
I fear that is exactly the case. I know that we still have E.G.O suits to extract from the latest abnormality, however I believe it would be best to end things here, and investigate the problem further.
Great. Yeah. Alright. Let's see what the problem is. Everyone, clear out!
Huh. This feels early.
There's been an incident.
So more work for us, huh..?
Not that kind of incident. Yet.
All I needed to hear.
Hey, now, no leaving 'til we're all packed up here kiddo.
Fine…
I'll handle the cleanup. You just do what you need to do, manager~
Thanks.
Congratulations go out to Twee and Mr.Blond for joining the maxout club with everyone else. We're hitting the point where I almost want to put together a spreadsheet to see who's maxed what so I can plan training ahead of time.
Music: never frozen bottom flows
F-01-18: Over time, her unbearable sorrow grew into a mournful obsession, covered in countless, lengthy hairs.
O-04-100: The more blood it has, the more beautiful it is.
T-02-71: Tell the kid today's treat is going to be grape-flavored candy. It's his favorite.
A meh-pick, to be honest. -18 is a TETH abnormality which gives us a ranged White damage weapon, which are important for dealing with certain types of panics. However, she's not a particularly good training abnormality, offers no gift, and is generally 'meh' overall. She's also the only instance of a jumpscare in the game-mild though she may be. We'll pass. Then there's -100, another TETH and one whose QC drops on good results. Its gear looks really neat, but dealing with it either causes deaths or is slow, and we can't really afford 'slow' right now, particularly for equipment that's been outdated for over 10 days. That leaves -71 by default which is… Meh! A WAW abnormality, it has the lowest damage weapon in its class, and its suit is basically a slightly worse version of Hornet, though it does give us 3 copies of it instead of 2. It's not even a particularly great trainer, dealing White damage but having Insight as its only bad work type.
Still, I guess we'll take it.
Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: We find out what the hell happened in Training.
New Guidelines
The Little Prince
New Gear
Requirements: Level 2, Temperance 2
Requirements: Level 2, Prudence 2
New Story
The Little Prince (Part 1)
The Little Prince (Part 2)
The Little Prince (Part 3)
The Little Prince (Part 4)
Music: neutral 1
One more thing, manager: When I woke up this morning I was feeling particularly inspired. I made a couple of changes in our systems and employee training regimens, raising efficiency by at least 12%. Holy hell, Malkuth. This is really useful. Good work. Thank you, manager!First things first, Suppressing Malkuth gives us some new upgrades. Firstly, if you remember the Mechanics Talk about LOB gains, we now have the better formula mentioned there. This will give us a not-insignificant amount of bonus LOB every day to use later on. Secondly, the base speeds of all our agents have increased from 40 to 45, the equivalent of 12.5 points of Move Speed for everyone. Finally, meltdowns will no longer spawn in the Control team. Gone are the days where 1.76 MHz's static covers everything because I forgot it was melting down-it simply cannot anymore. This also removes the 4 abnormalities in Control from the total pool of Abnormalities which can meltdown, meaning fewer will spawn as well-though with only one department immune to them we won't see the effect until we hit higher meltdown levels.
Since today ended in a 6, it's also a Memory Repository day. This is important because…
We cannot do Core Suppressions on a Memory Repository day. (This is actually why I didn't put any in the story update.
) All we have to worry about today is a single new Abnormality. Let’s make the best of today as always~ You guys had better not screw up! Just don't do anything dangerous. Now that we're off emergency detail, let's see… Gaia, it looks like it's your turn with the ol' Long Bird again. I'll do my best, ma'am! And Mizu… THERE'S A DISTURBANCE IN THE FACILITY! What? I must go. A cutie needs me. Our new Abnormality is some sort of creepy mushroom. Once you notice that the base is a bunch of screaming faces, you can never unsee it. Sorry.
Hello, ma'am! Fine day we're- Not now! Cutie! Cuuuuuuuutiiiiiiiiiie!! I'm very flattered, but- Not now! There's a new cutie! ...Ah. You mean the abnormality. Talow! I'm here for the cutie! Oh, hey Mizu. Twee just went inside. ...what? Finally, a chance to put those techniques I learned from watching Mizu to work. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Talow, I'm back-oh, Hi Mizu! Shh. Shh shh. Come here. We speak. Sure. Did you want to know how to work with the mushroom? I know how to treat cuties. No. I just want to say that if you ever, ever steal my spot again, I will have words. With your face. Using my fists. As words. Uhm… okay? Okie-dokie. I'm gonna go say hi to the new cutie now~~ That was scary..! She certainly has her moments. It's okay everyone! The cutie has decided it likes me best after all. Also it likes attachment work, but it gets you all sporey so you should probably clean up after. So you're headed off to the shower? Heeeck naw! I said you should clean up. I'm gonna savor it. Oh, alright! I'll call Central and work something out.Our new abnormality, Giant Mushroom Chunk, is a complicated thing. The first thing to know about it is that every time we work with it, it increments a secret counter on our agents by +0.2. If it ever hits 1, bad stuff happens at the end of the work. Working with another abnormality gives that agent a -0.2, so it's necessary to swap back and forth should you be working with the Chonk.
We'll be having Twee and Talow trade out working the Chonk and working with Yin or Nothing There today, in order to prevent incrementing that counter. Meanwhile, Boksi is preparing Firebird to breach since we need to suppress it two more times at some point.
Let's clean this room up. I definitely don't want a repeat of you.The second arbitrary rule of the Chonk: If we go 3 works without doing an Insight work, its QC lowers by 1. This means that Talow is going to be solely on cleanup duty today, since his stats are maxed and we don't need to train him any further right now.
Alright everyone. It's time to line up and get ready for the Firebird again. Being surrounded by my admirers never gets any less awkward. Which admirers are those, exactly..?Immediately, things go wrong: The Firebird is charging to the right in this shot, and this is disastrous. We don't have a room to the right of this hallway, so if I were to engage it here and it were to use its charge attack again, we wouldn't be able to dodge.
All units, fall back!We try engaging it in the main room once it enters, but…
What's it doing? It looks like it's returning to its cell. Then let's suppress it before it can get back in. You newbie! That's not how it works at all! Once an abnormality decides to return home, the ability to suppress it is deactivated. It prevents pointless deaths and injuries! But… the feather… There's always next time, manager.Firebird has a time limit, and if we don't suppress it in time it decides to return home. We'll have to try again in a bit.
Well, at least things are moving smoothly. It is a marked improvement to be able to properly contact you, manager. At any rate, we should try Firebird again. That's the plan. I'm sure you can do it, sir.This time, it flies in the right direction and the fight plays out exactly like it did the previous three times on day 24.
Good job, sirs! Um… but why are we walking away from it? Because it's an explosion. You always walk slowly and purposely away from an explosion. You… do, sir? Hmmmm… sounds pretty coool, come to thiink of it… Exactly. Don't worry, I've got the feather right here ready to put into storage. Orders from the top, everyone! We've been told to stay on standby for any ordeals, but other than that we've got time off. Omni, be ready in case Blue Star melts down again. Ma'am! In that case, I'll be back in a bit. Sound good? Alright. Take all the time you need. Oh, can I come too? Actually, I need you to stay on hand up here in case an ordeal shows up. Roger that, sir! Angela… Punishing Bird is out. It is, Manager. Why is Hod not chiming in like she always does? Rather than monitoring the situation, she's in the middle of a training class for one of our groups of clerks. I see. Well, we'll let it do as it likes for now.So here's something I found out while recording this episode: If a Sephirah is ready for its core suppression, that Sephirah actually stops chiming in during breaches (and presumably deaths/panics as well) in their department. Since Hod and Yesod have the suppression button now, they're not talking until we fix them.
Talow. Do all fixers insist on appearing behind someone without warning, or is that just a you thing? I think we can both say that I'll definitely survive. That thing that was supposed to kill me didn't. Malkuth's fine, too. Oh, that? That's not what was supposed to kill you. Then what was that? Don't know. It's new to me. ...you're kidding. Oh, it's Bishop. Not every day you see someone from Control bother to come down here. I was just making a midday cup of coffee. Want some? Yes, thanks very much. This isn't over. It never is with you. Crimson Dawn.
Crimson D'oh! One of them let Forsaken Murderer out, but on the upside I can show off that Malkuth's robot form persists even in day-to-day talks. She even has new lines for everything to reflect the change in her outlook.
Just keep walking. Don't look down. Don't think about it.Meanwhile I lose a bunch of clerks to an exploding clown. No big deal, clerks don't count.
Crimson (finally) Done.
Around now we finally finish unlocking our new Abnormality's information, alongside its true name-Little Prince. The contamination rule and the Insight rule are the only major twists to this thing, but since it can and will instantly kill agents if they're not followed, they make it difficult to work with. It's still worth farming for its gear, particularly that spear. Oh yes... We want that spear.
Now that that bird's been basically beaten back, Boksi's breaktime's bound to be a blast. How long did you spend on that sentence instead of literally anything useful? Oh come off it, it's not my fault you don't understand the cunning wit of someone who went to an actual school. You're right. I prefer slapstick. Wanna see? ...no, I don't think I do.Crimson Noon.
Crimson None. Seriously, the only interesting thing that happened was the last clown blowing up on the clerk in the background behind the banner, who survived because of Red bullets.
My dude, I heard an explosion! Are you okay? Better than that guy. ...Fair enough! Manager, the energy has been gathered and we are prepared to end the day at any time. We'll get to it eventually. There's still that mushroom's gear to get. Just a little more until… X, we're receiving an urgent page from Medea in the Training team. Seriously? Okay, patch it through. Manager, we have an emergency! What broke out this time? No, manager, it's Hod. Tell him what you told me, Gamma28. We were in the middle of training, and she started acting really weird, lashing out at everyone for no reason! Then she started talking to herself and went offline! How are we supposed to work like this, manager?! You're kidding me. It would be best to check the security footage to confirm what transpired. Yeah. You don't suppose… I fear that is exactly the case. I know that we still have E.G.O suits to extract from the latest abnormality, however I believe it would be best to end things here, and investigate the problem further. Great. Yeah. Alright. Let's see what the problem is. Everyone, clear out! Huh. This feels early. There's been an incident. So more work for us, huh..? Not that kind of incident. Yet. All I needed to hear. Hey, now, no leaving 'til we're all packed up here kiddo. Fine… I'll handle the cleanup. You just do what you need to do, manager~ Thanks.Congratulations go out to Twee and Mr.Blond for joining the maxout club with everyone else. We're hitting the point where I almost want to put together a spreadsheet to see who's maxed what so I can plan training ahead of time.
Music: never frozen bottom flows
F-01-18: Over time, her unbearable sorrow grew into a mournful obsession, covered in countless, lengthy hairs.
O-04-100: The more blood it has, the more beautiful it is.
T-02-71: Tell the kid today's treat is going to be grape-flavored candy. It's his favorite.
A meh-pick, to be honest. -18 is a TETH abnormality which gives us a ranged White damage weapon, which are important for dealing with certain types of panics. However, she's not a particularly good training abnormality, offers no gift, and is generally 'meh' overall. She's also the only instance of a jumpscare in the game-mild though she may be. We'll pass. Then there's -100, another TETH and one whose QC drops on good results. Its gear looks really neat, but dealing with it either causes deaths or is slow, and we can't really afford 'slow' right now, particularly for equipment that's been outdated for over 10 days. That leaves -71 by default which is… Meh! A WAW abnormality, it has the lowest damage weapon in its class, and its suit is basically a slightly worse version of Hornet, though it does give us 3 copies of it instead of 2. It's not even a particularly great trainer, dealing White damage but having Insight as its only bad work type.
Still, I guess we'll take it.
Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: We find out what the hell happened in Training.
New Guidelines
The Little Prince
New Gear
Requirements: Level 2, Temperance 2
Requirements: Level 2, Prudence 2
New Story
The Little Prince (Part 1)
The Little Prince (Part 2)
The Little Prince (Part 3)
The Little Prince (Part 4)
Last edited by TeeQueue on Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Just realised it's going to be really funny to have Chesed's introduction either directly before or after checking in on Hod.
I found Little Prince okay to work with, but towards the end of the day I sometimes lost count of his works and had to send one of the standby agents to deal with him. Still would have liked to keep him, but... things... happened.
When an AI is ready for suppression, they also don't talk to you about expanding their department. I was really sad about that. On the other hand, this probably will also mean that RoboMalkuth will take over that part too if/when I have to do another Day 1 reset after suppressing her.
When an AI is ready for suppression, they also don't talk to you about expanding their department. I was really sad about that. On the other hand, this probably will also mean that RoboMalkuth will take over that part too if/when I have to do another Day 1 reset after suppressing her.
oh hey, we finally get to see the reward for doing the core suppressions, it's good stuff. more LOB isn't terribly interesting, but it's more stats on more agents, not very relevant to Tee Queue but it's something to slow/prevent the "dying agents" spiral, and that's pretty significant for someone that's struggling, don't need to spend so much time training if you can just buy your way to good stats.
The Little Prince is fun. the game doesn't mention the exact numbers, just a general "don't work it repeatedly, work other abnormalities to prevent problems" but it's one of its first guidelines so it's not a big deal. It's a shame how many works it takes to trigger the problem because it really takes the teeth out of dealing with it, so it's mostly just a matter of getting it's gear, then ignoring it because it's too much of a pain to be good for training.
The Little Prince is fun. the game doesn't mention the exact numbers, just a general "don't work it repeatedly, work other abnormalities to prevent problems" but it's one of its first guidelines so it's not a big deal. It's a shame how many works it takes to trigger the problem because it really takes the teeth out of dealing with it, so it's mostly just a matter of getting it's gear, then ignoring it because it's too much of a pain to be good for training.
Day 26: Supplemental - Captain's Meeting
Since I have no Mechanics Talk, Abnormality Roundups, or Team Bonus Content to offer, instead here's something completely different! I may or may not do more of these in the future. There's not going to be any actual gameplay in any of the Supplementals, so they're skippable if you only want the cold hard feeling of managerial madness.
Facility X-394 Meeting Room, Captain's Meeting
This meeting's off schedule, isn't it?
Sure is, kiddo. Wonder why Bishop called it..?
More to the point, what's he doing here? He's not a captain of anything.
Sure I am, you just don't know it yet.
Tch, cocky little…
Quiet down, everyone. We're here to discuss recent events.
As you all know, my Sephirah Malkuth had some sort of breakdown that resulted in a massive facility-wide problem. This was because of her issues with the manager. I figure we should compare notes. Do any of your Sephirot have any problems with him that might explode out of control?
My Sephiroth seems to have a couple issues, but Yesod's fine.
HAHAHAHAHA!!
Seriously? 
:mmmhmm:
Mm...
Well, Tiphereth was replaced, and from the sound of it this happens a lot.
But he was replaced-and as long as Tiphereth is fine, she can pull double duty for the both of them. I don't think either of them resents the manager over it either. S'not his fault Tiphereth's glitchy.
And there's nothing to worry about from Netzach! HAHAHA, he doesn't care about anything at all, manager included! Why, he let me draw a smiling face on him before without complaint!
Chesed only just got to work, and I haven't noticed anything wrong at all. He makes some really good coffee, though.
Can't argue there.
Well… wait. Hod did have that counseling program that was cancelled a while ago by the management. You don't think..? Do you?
It's possible. I've been here longer than any of you, and even I'd never seen something like that before. It's a complete mystery.
So that's the cause… There's a chance we might see something like that again soon.
I had a hunch.
You, a hunch? 
Stow it, you. Anyways, from what I learned the manager needs to figure out the root cause behind the Sephirah's problem and help them work through it, while refining energy for some kind of purpose. I guess maybe to cement the fix?
Makes as much sense as anything.
Achieving apotheosis and returning from a monster to an actualized being does tend to require a lot of magical energy in the stories I've read.
Neeeerd.
H-hey!
Well… if that's the case, we can trust the manager with it, right?
Hell no. He's a total jackass.
Little better than the past few, but definitely a jackass.
But he saved Malkuth, right? Surely...
He saved her, kicking and screaming the whole way. If I hadn't had to learn about how to disarm a conflict, we'd still be banging our head against that wall. Anyways, I've given each of you a copy of a map I made. It'll tell you how to get to where he is in the event something happens.
Isn't that a massive security breach?
Well, normally you'd have to deal with sentries. Turns out that when Malkuth was having her episode, though, they were all inactive. Even a newbie could make it all the way down there in those circumstances.
So… what are you saying we should do here?
Seems pretty obvious. Nobody knows our Sephirah like us, so if there's a problem we should head down there and make sure that idiot manager of ours does his job like a proper nestborn. That about it?
Unusually astute of you, Boksi.
What do you mean 'unusual?'
Bishop's just cranky because he didn't get to say it.
HAHAHA, how like him!
Setting that aside, I think we should all agree to move forward with this action plan should anything else happen.
Shouldn't we make sure the boss or the others know?
No. The fewer people who know about this, the better. Heck, officially this meeting isn't happening right now.
That would explain the lack of cameras.
You noticed, eh?
'Course I did, kiddo. Your work's never exactly been subtle.
Don't know what you're-
Anyways, I got it, we don't talk to the others about this. Why, exactly?
We've gotta keep the circle of people who know small. Otherwise, someone who wants one of our jobs could try ratting us out to steal it. Or, the management could get mad that we know they're incompetent and decide to retire us to prove a point. Dangerous company. Lots of ways an accident could happen.
I don't like agreeing with Talow, but he's right. The only people we can trust here is us.
I don't exactly like it… but okay.
I'm in, I guess.
If my Tiphereth somehow happens to melt down, I'll take care of business.
Same for me and Yesod. It'd be a shame to lose the old mummy.
Worry not! I'll solve any problem with a smile on my face!
Then it's unanimous. Let's do this, everyone!
All in, everyone. Face the fear..!
Since I have no Mechanics Talk, Abnormality Roundups, or Team Bonus Content to offer, instead here's something completely different! I may or may not do more of these in the future. There's not going to be any actual gameplay in any of the Supplementals, so they're skippable if you only want the cold hard feeling of managerial madness.
Facility X-394 Meeting Room, Captain's Meeting
This meeting's off schedule, isn't it? Sure is, kiddo. Wonder why Bishop called it..? More to the point, what's he doing here? He's not a captain of anything. Sure I am, you just don't know it yet. Tch, cocky little… Quiet down, everyone. We're here to discuss recent events. As you all know, my Sephirah Malkuth had some sort of breakdown that resulted in a massive facility-wide problem. This was because of her issues with the manager. I figure we should compare notes. Do any of your Sephirot have any problems with him that might explode out of control? My Sephiroth seems to have a couple issues, but Yesod's fine. HAHAHAHAHA!! Seriously? :mmmhmm: Mm... Well, Tiphereth was replaced, and from the sound of it this happens a lot. But he was replaced-and as long as Tiphereth is fine, she can pull double duty for the both of them. I don't think either of them resents the manager over it either. S'not his fault Tiphereth's glitchy. And there's nothing to worry about from Netzach! HAHAHA, he doesn't care about anything at all, manager included! Why, he let me draw a smiling face on him before without complaint! Chesed only just got to work, and I haven't noticed anything wrong at all. He makes some really good coffee, though. Can't argue there. Well… wait. Hod did have that counseling program that was cancelled a while ago by the management. You don't think..? Do you? It's possible. I've been here longer than any of you, and even I'd never seen something like that before. It's a complete mystery. So that's the cause… There's a chance we might see something like that again soon. I had a hunch. You, a hunch? Stow it, you. Anyways, from what I learned the manager needs to figure out the root cause behind the Sephirah's problem and help them work through it, while refining energy for some kind of purpose. I guess maybe to cement the fix? Makes as much sense as anything. Achieving apotheosis and returning from a monster to an actualized being does tend to require a lot of magical energy in the stories I've read. Neeeerd. H-hey! Well… if that's the case, we can trust the manager with it, right? Hell no. He's a total jackass. Little better than the past few, but definitely a jackass. But he saved Malkuth, right? Surely... He saved her, kicking and screaming the whole way. If I hadn't had to learn about how to disarm a conflict, we'd still be banging our head against that wall. Anyways, I've given each of you a copy of a map I made. It'll tell you how to get to where he is in the event something happens. Isn't that a massive security breach? Well, normally you'd have to deal with sentries. Turns out that when Malkuth was having her episode, though, they were all inactive. Even a newbie could make it all the way down there in those circumstances. So… what are you saying we should do here? Seems pretty obvious. Nobody knows our Sephirah like us, so if there's a problem we should head down there and make sure that idiot manager of ours does his job like a proper nestborn. That about it? Unusually astute of you, Boksi. What do you mean 'unusual?' Bishop's just cranky because he didn't get to say it. HAHAHA, how like him! Setting that aside, I think we should all agree to move forward with this action plan should anything else happen. Shouldn't we make sure the boss or the others know? No. The fewer people who know about this, the better. Heck, officially this meeting isn't happening right now. That would explain the lack of cameras. You noticed, eh? 'Course I did, kiddo. Your work's never exactly been subtle. Don't know what you're- Anyways, I got it, we don't talk to the others about this. Why, exactly? We've gotta keep the circle of people who know small. Otherwise, someone who wants one of our jobs could try ratting us out to steal it. Or, the management could get mad that we know they're incompetent and decide to retire us to prove a point. Dangerous company. Lots of ways an accident could happen. I don't like agreeing with Talow, but he's right. The only people we can trust here is us. I don't exactly like it… but okay. I'm in, I guess. If my Tiphereth somehow happens to melt down, I'll take care of business. Same for me and Yesod. It'd be a shame to lose the old mummy. Worry not! I'll solve any problem with a smile on my face! Then it's unanimous. Let's do this, everyone! All in, everyone. Face the fear..!
Famous last words.BeachedSpider wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 4:30 pmOur agents are cute. I hope none of them ever die (permanently)!
Something tells me that unionizing is probably not allowed. LobCorp is A) powerful enough that no major organisation would be able to to anything to stop them, comes with being a "wing" and B) there's enough manpower being hired that it would be absolutely possible to just fire anyone that tries to unionize, or "retire" them.
Of course they could also just direct them to Netzach too, keeping people alive is (supposed to be) his job after all.
Of course they could also just direct them to Netzach too, keeping people alive is (supposed to be) his job after all.
Day 27: Story
Angela, bring up the footage of Training from today. We'll have to go through it and find anything relevant.
Of course, manager. Bringing up Hod's relevant memories now.
(Hod previous story: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Music: Town - Alone in a Crowd
It’s just like a light hallucination. It’ll disappear after two or three times, so don’t worry about it too much. For me, it was an employee whose face had half melted. ‘Crawled over my feet and grabbed me by the shoulders, asking me why I let her die.
That wasn’t a hallucination or anything…
You know, like, unbelievable things happen here, so maybe it is possible for dead employees to come back, as if nothing happened, right?
...I’m not in any state to say this, but you don’t look too good. Why don’t you skip today’s meeting?
I can’t do that, we have an Abnormality Response Training today… They need me to run the drill properly…
...Right? Look, Tiffany… I was right….
Music: mirror dimensions
—be focusing on Abnormality Response Training.
(“How many times do I have to tell you? You’re only a sad piece of rusty scrap metal putting on the act of being a good person.”)
Now, I want everyone to pay close attention here. The Abnormality we’ll suppress today needs to be handled a bit differently than the others.
(“If you hoped that living such a lie would ease your conscience, that’s really selfish.”)
Starting now, I will be explaining the method I devised. Please listen carefully.
(“At least the other Sephirot are humble enough to admit that they’re not perfect.”)
.........
Oh… Sorry… Where were we…
Yes, what is it?
Do you think that this training will make any difference? I mean, against that Long Bird, it feels like whoever will die or live is all predetermined, and there’s nothing we can do to change it.
….…Well, it should yield a better result than just doing nothing. At the very least, we can prepare a preventative measure rather than just wait helplessly to—
A hunk of junk like you wouldn’t understand. In a critical situation, nothing really helps.
(“Just know this.”)
I’m doing this all for you guys, even the counseling campaign…
Now that you mention it, that compulsory counseling campaign is such a pain. We’d rather have a break time instead.
Why is our department the only one that has to deal with these programs?
(“It will keep repeating itself. Live with eternal sorrow and remorse in that metal mass.”)
Well, I—! …
Why aren’t you thanking me? Do you want me to get rid of you like Malkuth does, before you even make the littlest complaint?! Don’t you say that I’m the bad one here!
Music: Cryptic
….Tiffany, why are you doing this to me?
That's not normal, is it.
No, X, it is not. Have you remembered anything?
Why would you think I'd-gh!
Music: Ricardo's Revenge
Michelle was the youngest among us. She was a timid and innocent employee. It made her an easy target. Maybe it was her fate to be used as a pawn of the Wings that were alert to us, or of the Head that would watch over us constantly.
You probably tried to comfort yourself in the end, telling yourself that you did the best you could. That in this world, in that moment, there wasn’t any other option for you. But Carmen was the person who was trying to change this world, the world you resigned yourself to.
Music: Boss Warning
In summary:
So… Netzach confirms that Hod was hallucinating her dead agent. She seems to be unwell, but insists on having her training meeting instead. However, it goes… very badly, she freaks out, and has more hallucinations. Meanwhile, we remember A remembering Michelle, who apparently was responsible for our downfall? Like Malkuth and Elijah, this is probably related.
Now, I take it?
Yeah. Now. These memories… you know something, don't you?
…I am the greatest AI partner possible. There is a large variety of information which is constantly waiting at my fingertips.
How about you tell me what you know about all this then. I'm getting tired of all this not knowing things.
...Very well, X. I suppose it is about that time.
Music: Dear Lorenne
Everything advances, but the human mind is simply too slow and placid to catch up. All that remains are the 26 ‘Singularities’, and those who are tied to them. Humankind had deserted its former beliefs. It now has little respect for the various pillars that had supported us.
Nobody ever earnestly believes in something or wishes for anything. The belief once strong within a certain woman is now obsolete and worthless, abandoned like an old music box. Everything has gone quiet, as if nothing had happened in the first place. However, A couldn’t stand that despicable silence. So what do you think happened to him?
However, A has always existed here, watching you ever since you stepped inside.
…
Sometimes, the Sephirot would ask me this:
A machine should only exist as a tool for its specified work. “Why do we have to know the cold agony of loss, the insidious poison of obsession, the soft light of wishing, the unbearable pain of despair; then the hope to embrace it all with open arms?” I thought I could answer anything… But not even I could answer that particular question.
That phrase was something A told me often. Perhaps A, the one who would know better than anyone about this fact, made us like this because it’s all a stage play, no, a puppet show for him.
…
You seem to have no idea. Well, of course, there’s no way for you to know. But now it is time for you to know the answer.
…
First as a hope, second through agony, third in pain, fourth for anxiety, fifth out of distrust…
Music: Memory Synchronization
In summary: Everything is a puppet show put on by A, who is dead because Angela killed him and also watched him die. She asks us a question we can't possibly know the answer to, and then says it's time for us to learn the answer. Then she begins a process called 'Memory Synchronization,' which turns the world blue.
What… is this?
You do not need to worry. The headaches are a byproduct of your consciousness regaining memories you were not aware of due to stressful circumstances. This process will synchronize yourself with your missing memories in a less strenuous manner.
So, what do I do? Just sit here?
That is correct, X. Simply go about your day as you normally would. Things will settle on their own.
...That seems a bit too convenient.
Setting that aside, I believe you had a new Sephirah to meet today, X?
Oh, right. That Chesed guy.
Music: Town - VIP Lounge
The air feels sweeter than usual, doesn’t it? Now, if you don’t mind, can I have a moment to drink some coffee, manager?
…
I hope you’re not offended by the way I talk to you, are you? My name’s Chesed. I’m the head of the Welfare Department. The Welfare Team is quite remarkable. I’m proud to state that my team has the highest level of satisfaction in the entire corporation. Lady Angela’s told me to cooperate with you for now.
But orders are orders, so I’ve got no choice do I? Well, I’ll be off now, my cup’s getting cold~
Please, go on.
Well… I didn’t polish the E.G.O thoroughly enough, so some of them appear to be malfunctioning right now. I think we’ll have to run some extra diagnostics, I’m so sorry, Chesed, sir.
Naw~ That’s quite alright. Must have been pretty tiring to do E.G.O maintenance on top of all the work you already have, no?
Mister Chesed, sir…
I’ll go check it myself, you’ve done well enough to find out about the problem now. There’s so many things to mind here. It’d take quite a bit out of someone to constantly pay attention to every little detail like that.
Oh my! Thank you so much sir!
.....
The way I handled that was quite different from what you’ve seen out of the others, wasn’t it? Yep, Lady Angela wouldn’t have gone easy on that at all like I did. These employees will be goners soon enough, so what’s the point in investing so much effort, scolding and lambasting them over tiny little mishaps?
*pouring sound*
Too bad, lukewarm coffee just isn’t worth it. Best to pour it down the drain with no hesitation.
In summary: This guy.
Chesed is a laid back boss who likes coffee, but doesn't hesitate to dump it the second it goes lukewarm. He seems like he'd rather not deal with us, but because "Lady Angela" demands it, he has to, and he's probably going to try and kill us because he's an AI and this is a video game.
As for our new mission, it's... special. The way it works is that we get a specific time limit to complete a day, with that limit going up by 30 seconds for each additional day that's passed beyond day 26 (the first day it can be completed, if we should happen to reset) to make up for the extra energy the day requires. The important thing for right now is that this mission has a 10 minute timer if done on day 27.
This is actually why I've chosen to go with Welfare for this playthrough. The Disciplinary missions all track abnormality suppressions during the day, and as a result cannot be done during core suppressions. Chesed's missions work fine-we just can't see the timer.
It's probably obvious where I'm going with this.
He wants me to go fast.
You could do it if you'd just ignore Hod. It's not like any of the uppers are that good at their jobs anyways.
She does decent work, and I'd rather not tax Angela too much.
You could always just do the research later...
That's not my way of doing things either. Coffee's no good after it cools, right?
Hey, you remembered~
It was just five minutes ago.
Then what are you going to do?
Everything, like always. Make sure your agents are ready for anything. From my understanding, we won't be able to talk after the day gets started.
Yes, manager.
Hey, Chesed. You may need some extra body bags. It might be best to pull them beforehand.
I'm not too worried about all that. After all, from what I've heard our manager here is the sentimental type who resets over every single death~
Hey, not every death.
Right, right, clerks don't count, was it?
More or less.
…
Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Hod tries to kill us because she's an AI and this is a video game, but this time there's a time limit!
Um… Talow? You have a minute?
Oh, hey Medea. What're you doing down here?
I'm trying to make heads or tails of this map… I've never been very good at directions.
Ah, the type to get turned around heading to district 11 and wind up in 25?
Haha, that exactly, actually. How'd you know?
Lucky guess. Anyways, from here you want to go over to the elevator. Straight down to the bottom floor, then there's a vent. That's your in, apparently.
You checked it out already, huh?
Yeah. So, how's Hod?
Before I left, she was already starting to uh… something. There was this black stuff leaking out and her body looked ready to burst apart.
Just like with Malkuth… That settles it. You should get going.
Right. I've been wanting to meet this manager for myself, anyway. Don't die, okay?
Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll meet again.
Angela, bring up the footage of Training from today. We'll have to go through it and find anything relevant. Of course, manager. Bringing up Hod's relevant memories now.(Hod previous story: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Music: Town - Alone in a Crowd
It’s just like a light hallucination. It’ll disappear after two or three times, so don’t worry about it too much. For me, it was an employee whose face had half melted. ‘Crawled over my feet and grabbed me by the shoulders, asking me why I let her die. That wasn’t a hallucination or anything… You know, like, unbelievable things happen here, so maybe it is possible for dead employees to come back, as if nothing happened, right? ...I’m not in any state to say this, but you don’t look too good. Why don’t you skip today’s meeting? I can’t do that, we have an Abnormality Response Training today… They need me to run the drill properly… ...Right? Look, Tiffany… I was right….Music: mirror dimensions
—be focusing on Abnormality Response Training. (“How many times do I have to tell you? You’re only a sad piece of rusty scrap metal putting on the act of being a good person.”) Now, I want everyone to pay close attention here. The Abnormality we’ll suppress today needs to be handled a bit differently than the others. (“If you hoped that living such a lie would ease your conscience, that’s really selfish.”) Starting now, I will be explaining the method I devised. Please listen carefully. (“At least the other Sephirot are humble enough to admit that they’re not perfect.”) ......... Oh… Sorry… Where were we… Yes, what is it? Do you think that this training will make any difference? I mean, against that Long Bird, it feels like whoever will die or live is all predetermined, and there’s nothing we can do to change it. ….…Well, it should yield a better result than just doing nothing. At the very least, we can prepare a preventative measure rather than just wait helplessly to— A hunk of junk like you wouldn’t understand. In a critical situation, nothing really helps. (“Just know this.”) I’m doing this all for you guys, even the counseling campaign… Now that you mention it, that compulsory counseling campaign is such a pain. We’d rather have a break time instead. Why is our department the only one that has to deal with these programs? (“It will keep repeating itself. Live with eternal sorrow and remorse in that metal mass.”) Well, I—! … Why aren’t you thanking me? Do you want me to get rid of you like Malkuth does, before you even make the littlest complaint?! Don’t you say that I’m the bad one here!Music: Cryptic
….Tiffany, why are you doing this to me? That's not normal, is it. No, X, it is not. Have you remembered anything? Why would you think I'd-gh!Music: Ricardo's Revenge
Michelle was the youngest among us. She was a timid and innocent employee. It made her an easy target. Maybe it was her fate to be used as a pawn of the Wings that were alert to us, or of the Head that would watch over us constantly. You probably tried to comfort yourself in the end, telling yourself that you did the best you could. That in this world, in that moment, there wasn’t any other option for you. But Carmen was the person who was trying to change this world, the world you resigned yourself to.Music: Boss Warning
In summary:
So… Netzach confirms that Hod was hallucinating her dead agent. She seems to be unwell, but insists on having her training meeting instead. However, it goes… very badly, she freaks out, and has more hallucinations. Meanwhile, we remember A remembering Michelle, who apparently was responsible for our downfall? Like Malkuth and Elijah, this is probably related.
Now, I take it? Yeah. Now. These memories… you know something, don't you? …I am the greatest AI partner possible. There is a large variety of information which is constantly waiting at my fingertips. How about you tell me what you know about all this then. I'm getting tired of all this not knowing things. ...Very well, X. I suppose it is about that time.Music: Dear Lorenne
Everything advances, but the human mind is simply too slow and placid to catch up. All that remains are the 26 ‘Singularities’, and those who are tied to them. Humankind had deserted its former beliefs. It now has little respect for the various pillars that had supported us. Nobody ever earnestly believes in something or wishes for anything. The belief once strong within a certain woman is now obsolete and worthless, abandoned like an old music box. Everything has gone quiet, as if nothing had happened in the first place. However, A couldn’t stand that despicable silence. So what do you think happened to him? However, A has always existed here, watching you ever since you stepped inside. … Sometimes, the Sephirot would ask me this: A machine should only exist as a tool for its specified work. “Why do we have to know the cold agony of loss, the insidious poison of obsession, the soft light of wishing, the unbearable pain of despair; then the hope to embrace it all with open arms?” I thought I could answer anything… But not even I could answer that particular question. That phrase was something A told me often. Perhaps A, the one who would know better than anyone about this fact, made us like this because it’s all a stage play, no, a puppet show for him. … You seem to have no idea. Well, of course, there’s no way for you to know. But now it is time for you to know the answer. … First as a hope, second through agony, third in pain, fourth for anxiety, fifth out of distrust…Music: Memory Synchronization
In summary: Everything is a puppet show put on by A, who is dead because Angela killed him and also watched him die. She asks us a question we can't possibly know the answer to, and then says it's time for us to learn the answer. Then she begins a process called 'Memory Synchronization,' which turns the world blue.
What… is this? You do not need to worry. The headaches are a byproduct of your consciousness regaining memories you were not aware of due to stressful circumstances. This process will synchronize yourself with your missing memories in a less strenuous manner. So, what do I do? Just sit here? That is correct, X. Simply go about your day as you normally would. Things will settle on their own. ...That seems a bit too convenient. Setting that aside, I believe you had a new Sephirah to meet today, X? Oh, right. That Chesed guy.Music: Town - VIP Lounge
The air feels sweeter than usual, doesn’t it? Now, if you don’t mind, can I have a moment to drink some coffee, manager? … I hope you’re not offended by the way I talk to you, are you? My name’s Chesed. I’m the head of the Welfare Department. The Welfare Team is quite remarkable. I’m proud to state that my team has the highest level of satisfaction in the entire corporation. Lady Angela’s told me to cooperate with you for now. But orders are orders, so I’ve got no choice do I? Well, I’ll be off now, my cup’s getting cold~ Please, go on. Well… I didn’t polish the E.G.O thoroughly enough, so some of them appear to be malfunctioning right now. I think we’ll have to run some extra diagnostics, I’m so sorry, Chesed, sir. Naw~ That’s quite alright. Must have been pretty tiring to do E.G.O maintenance on top of all the work you already have, no?
Mister Chesed, sir… I’ll go check it myself, you’ve done well enough to find out about the problem now. There’s so many things to mind here. It’d take quite a bit out of someone to constantly pay attention to every little detail like that. Oh my! Thank you so much sir! ..... The way I handled that was quite different from what you’ve seen out of the others, wasn’t it? Yep, Lady Angela wouldn’t have gone easy on that at all like I did. These employees will be goners soon enough, so what’s the point in investing so much effort, scolding and lambasting them over tiny little mishaps?*pouring sound*
Too bad, lukewarm coffee just isn’t worth it. Best to pour it down the drain with no hesitation.In summary: This guy.
Chesed is a laid back boss who likes coffee, but doesn't hesitate to dump it the second it goes lukewarm. He seems like he'd rather not deal with us, but because "Lady Angela" demands it, he has to, and he's probably going to try and kill us because he's an AI and this is a video game.
As for our new mission, it's... special. The way it works is that we get a specific time limit to complete a day, with that limit going up by 30 seconds for each additional day that's passed beyond day 26 (the first day it can be completed, if we should happen to reset) to make up for the extra energy the day requires. The important thing for right now is that this mission has a 10 minute timer if done on day 27.
This is actually why I've chosen to go with Welfare for this playthrough. The Disciplinary missions all track abnormality suppressions during the day, and as a result cannot be done during core suppressions. Chesed's missions work fine-we just can't see the timer.
It's probably obvious where I'm going with this.
He wants me to go fast. You could do it if you'd just ignore Hod. It's not like any of the uppers are that good at their jobs anyways. She does decent work, and I'd rather not tax Angela too much. You could always just do the research later... That's not my way of doing things either. Coffee's no good after it cools, right? Hey, you remembered~ It was just five minutes ago. Then what are you going to do? Everything, like always. Make sure your agents are ready for anything. From my understanding, we won't be able to talk after the day gets started. Yes, manager. Hey, Chesed. You may need some extra body bags. It might be best to pull them beforehand. I'm not too worried about all that. After all, from what I've heard our manager here is the sentimental type who resets over every single death~ Hey, not every death. Right, right, clerks don't count, was it? More or less. …Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Hod tries to kill us because she's an AI and this is a video game, but this time there's a time limit!
Um… Talow? You have a minute? Oh, hey Medea. What're you doing down here? I'm trying to make heads or tails of this map… I've never been very good at directions. Ah, the type to get turned around heading to district 11 and wind up in 25? Haha, that exactly, actually. How'd you know? Lucky guess. Anyways, from here you want to go over to the elevator. Straight down to the bottom floor, then there's a vent. That's your in, apparently. You checked it out already, huh? Yeah. So, how's Hod? Before I left, she was already starting to uh… something. There was this black stuff leaking out and her body looked ready to burst apart. Just like with Malkuth… That settles it. You should get going. Right. I've been wanting to meet this manager for myself, anyway. Don't die, okay? Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll meet again.
Last edited by TeeQueue on Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
I mean, if Malkuth is a robot based on Elijah... Are we a robot based on A? And when we realize it, will we get our own Qliphot meltdown?
My theory is that we're clone 24, or part of the 24th line of clones of A. The trumpet system accounts for multiple Lobcorp facilities and Malkuth saw us as A when she started going Qlipha. Thus, a new manager gets cloned when a new facility goes up specifically to have a human with whatever alteration of A's mind they came up with running the place. It probably isn't that much different than the process that made the Sephira, but I suspect that we have a human body so that the manager is immune (or substantially more resistant) to Qlipphoth contamination since we aren't literally made of the stuff.
Just finally caught up, and now have to wait (mostly) patiently like everyone.
Yesod's the Sephirah I like the most, thus far - genuinely cares about everyone, including the clerks. Every time X says "Clerks don't count" I now wince internally. Also suspect that he was partly dead by the time he got shlorped into a robot/AI, due to his concerns about his flesh rotting.
I'm really enjoying all the conversations you're adding to the game, TeeQueue!
Bishop's conflict resolution was great. I wanted to believe X was a good manager, but Bishop brought home that no, X is great at getting results that are good, but terrible at the actual human interactions side of management.
Yesod's the Sephirah I like the most, thus far - genuinely cares about everyone, including the clerks. Every time X says "Clerks don't count" I now wince internally. Also suspect that he was partly dead by the time he got shlorped into a robot/AI, due to his concerns about his flesh rotting.
I'm really enjoying all the conversations you're adding to the game, TeeQueue!
Bishop's conflict resolution was great. I wanted to believe X was a good manager, but Bishop brought home that no, X is great at getting results that are good, but terrible at the actual human interactions side of management.
You know, now that you mention that...Kacie wrote: ↑Sat Sep 19, 2020 11:52 pmYesod's the Sephirah I like the most, thus far - genuinely cares about everyone, including the clerks. Every time X says "Clerks don't count" I now wince internally. Also suspect that he was partly dead by the time he got shlorped into a robot/AI, due to his concerns about his flesh rotting.
It's quite weird that Yesod talks about his skin and about changing his clothes, with what we now know about the Sephirah. Does Yesod have a perception filter that also applies to how he sees himself? Or is he just hallucinating the clothes-change entirely?
Eh, I mean, a box-robot can wear clothes too. They'd have to be specifically tailored, of course, but given that Yesod has this mania I don't imagine Angela would be too opposed to doing that so he can function. From Malkuth's flashbacks it seems the Sephirah may have been human at one point, and if that's true, this might be a mania that carried over from when he was just a guy. The bigger mystery, in my opinion, is how Chesed drinks piping hot coffee when he's a robot. Or how Hod and Netzach take enkephalin. (Which, by the way, is just the human body's painkiller hormones, so how does anyone get high off it...?)
Day 27: Gameplay
Music: neutral 1
After last time, I can't help but feel tense.
No one would blame you for looking the other way, X.
Not very partnerly, Angela. Try being supportive.
...The other Sephirot have been put to sleep for the time being. I wish you the best of luck, manager.
I'll be sure to deliver. Let's do this.
Music: Second Trumpet
There's no wavy effects or anything like with Malkuth's meltdown. Everything seems almost normal so far.
Hod, you can hear me, right?
I sure can, manager. I'm glad you're here. It's time to film!
What.
Our training video! Did you forget? It's okay, let me take care of things!
A training video? What the hell?
It seems like she's still suffering some hallucinations. We'll have to carefully get beyond that before we can get anything done.
BWAH! Don't just sneak up behind someone like that!
Sorry, manager. I thought you might like the help.
Well, I certainly don't not want it. So, we need her to face reality?
Yes, but be careful. Her mental state is incredibly delicate.
Let's all do our best today! Lights, camera, action!!
Like Malkuth (and every other Sephirot), Hod also has a set of text that changes as we go.
Hey… what's that smell?
Seems like there's something coming out of the vents.
Heeheehee…. Hey Taalow… I feel kinda funny..!
..! Twee, it's a sedative. Be careful!
Oh, uh-yeah! Sure!
Hod's Suppression tests our ability to work through a day where our agents are weaker than the abnormalities they're supposed to be working-think back to day 10, but now we have WAWs and ALEPHs. I've heard it described as Hod temporarily turning things into one of those 70s-80s era training videos, and it's a very apt description. For a quick comparison, here's Twee's stats from the preparation screen:
And here's her at day start:
Altogether, she's got a +5 Movement Speed from the Control team's clerks, a +5 Work Success rate from the Information team's clerks, and a -15 penalty to all stats from Hod. Our facility's focus on optimized training gives us a bit of an advantage, but this will get worse and is why Hod's generally considered the hardest of the Upper Sephirah to suppress. All of our stat-gated Abnormalities which require 5's in stats are now ticking timebombs, and the most common causes of death vs Hod are either having suddenly-weakened agents get shredded by Green Noon, or meltdowns spawning on stat-gated ALEPHs like Blue Star or Nothing There when your agents are all below the threshold.
So that's what abnormalities look like from here, huh?
Pretty much. I've heard it's a lot less terrifying than the real thing.
For sure. These look a lot cuter-why, I want to ask what that cutie-patootie Ppodae looks like under this filter.
I'll send you a picture after we're done here. Let's just get Mizu to work on it, we don't have time to do proper research today.
So, as I said before we're on a 10 minute time limit. This means we're not going to have time to do my usual strategy of fully investigating our newest abnormality. Instead, our plan is to spam works as quickly as possible. Right now, it takes 12 works to progress a level. We need to get to level 6 to clear the day, so we have to go through 5 levels. That's a total of 60 works, which isn't nearly as huge an ask as you'd think.
Pictured: 13 total works at once (including Control, which is just offscreen). Chesed's missions do not count time spent on pause, so it's best to do everything in giant batches to get through the day ASAP. We've also got Tenebrais on a special mission.
Hod, I didn't ask for a training video to get filmed, and that's not even what's going on.
But manager, that's got to be what's happening! I remember clearly that you told me we'd be doing this today!
I saw your memories, Hod. I know what happened. First there was the issue with giving out Enkephalin to junkies, and now all the extra training that made your employees rebel. How do you get from that to 'make a training film?' I can try that conflict resolution thing or whatever, but I need you to act rationally.
I… but…
Music: Theme - Retro Time ALT (You should probably listen to this.
)
Um… I'm not worrying about that right now! It's more important that this video get made!
Wow… you really are bad at this.
I'm trying, okay?!
That's much better. You Must Be Happy can fairly easily negate most of the penalties Hod gives us, and makes this tool a hard counter to the entire suppression. If we were unsure, we could have every agent in the entire facility wander over here and work with YMBH until they were all buffed for the day and just proceed like normal.
That would take way longer than 10 minutes, though, so I've prioritized Tenebrais and Kaori for this treatment. Tenebrais will be heading down to Central to work with Nothing There, and Kaori gets to stay in Safety to make sure Blue Star doesn't have problems.
Anyways, we start queueing up a lot more works as soon as the cooldowns on the cells are cleared. This will happen a lot today.
So, got any bright ideas?
Thank you for asking! The proper protocol to deal with meltdowns is to ensure that they're worked by an appropriate agent as soon as possible. So long as you do that, nothing out of the ordinary will occur. With an abnormality like Long Bird…
None that come to mind immediately. Dealing with agents who are already this mentally corrupted doesn't usually fall to the Training team.
Then… hm. When did she start this latest round of extra training?
It was… oh, about two weeks ago? Almost precisely.
…Aha. I see.
See what?
The reason for all of this.
But most importantly, never ever put Punishing Bird into its scales! I know it might seem cute, but this simple action can trigger a chain reaction if the facility contains-
Hod. No matter how hard you work, or how much you try and make your agents follow along with you, it won't bring Tiffany back.
...what?
This training stuff, it's not for the agents at all, is it? Someone died because of your policy. You want to feel better about it, so you worked extra hard.
That's ridiculous! I work harder to help the other agents here than anyone else!
Manager, aren't you being a little harsh..?
You do work hard to try and help your agents. The problem is that they all hate you for it. Am I wrong, Hod? Medea?
I mean, I have to field some complaints from time to time, but that's just how it is. Every department has some people who don't quite mesh.
...It's alright, Medea, but I already know. My employees complain plenty. They don't understand my kindness… They never do. I try my best, and they talk like they talked to my face, but they talk behind my back instead.
So… why don't they understand it?
I don't know… I don't know!
You have to know! You're not an idiot, Hod! You're just running away from it! They hate you because you're not doing any of this for anyone but yourself!
Manager, please! Calm down! You need to talk things through normally and-
I can't talk with someone living in a fantasy world! At least Malkuth hated me for things I'd actually done!
But I haven't done anything wrong! I'm doing my best! I'm a good Sephirah!
This is what the feather weapon looks like when being used. It fires fairly fast, making it a decent WAW weapon despite not being affected by Attack Speed.
We also get a Queen Bee puff, but now that we have Red bullets we can block the damage, which stops our agents and clerks from getting hurt at all. It takes ~2 red bullets to fully stop someone from dying (maybe 3 if it's a clerk), but it can be worth it.
Unfortunately I missed one of the pollen'd clerks. The bee doesn't leave this room, though, so there's no problem!
Hod you are literally screwing up the entire facility right now because you're pretending we're shooting some training video. Of course I'm mad at you. I'm furious.
Manager, that's enough out of you! Hod's doing her best to… to… I know she's not exactly helping, but she thinks she is! You have to make her see she isn't!
I'm not going to do that by blowing smoke up her chassis, Medea!
Ghh… This isn't anything like what happened with Malkuth. Bishop, you moron!
Ordeal's done.
Wasn't it harder than usual? Wasn't it? One of the clerks birthed a bee, and more died waiting for your agents to suppress the Dawn between works. Without me, things don't work as well, but nobody ever thanks me. Nobody's ever shown gratitude for what I do… for how hard I work to keep them safe…
I'm telling you that's not what you're doing at all! You're just selfishly shoving your ideas onto them!
Hod's trying really hard, manager!
Yeah, but it's not for you employees at all! She's being selfish!
But I'm always helping, manager! Can't you see it? Can't you see the way they all suffer without me?
You are literally sedating my agents. They're suffering because of you!
Music: Theme - Retro Time ALT (Distorted ver)
No, no, no, things don't work without me. They just don't work without me..!
Tiffany… where's Tiffany? I was going to have her interview for the training video after her counseling session…
Great. You've made things even worse.
She's not going to get better unless she admits there's a problem. More pressingly, these things come in indigo?!
There's a lot to unpack here, so here we go: First of all, Hod's debuffs increase to -35 to all stats. Remember, the best our agents can get without E.G.O gifts right now is 110 in a single stat if everything lines up right, which means 75 is all that's left-without a lot of gift stacking or use of YMBH it's impossible to have a level 5 ability at this stage of the suppression.
Secondly, the CRT filter gets even worse, like we're watching a videotape so old it's about to fall apart.
Thirdly, new ordeal! Say hello to Indigo Noon, The Sweepers. This Noon is special because it can't appear before Day 26. As a result, it's a bit tougher than the others to handle.
Manager… those are sweepers!
They're what?
Sweepers, sir! At night in the Backstreets… oh, nevermind! Do you keep track of the personnel folders?!
I uh… I mostly do? But what are you asking for?
If Mizu sees those things, she's going to go ballistic! We definitely can't afford that right now!
Tiffany… Why are you so late..?
Uugh… we have to move then. And fast.
Indigo Noon spawns in a lot of Sweepers, a total of 12 overall. They wander the facility, but don't have any AI rules about staying together so they can get pretty much anywhere. Their main attack comes out relatively fast, and their charged attack-while a little slower-is much stronger. They also have one last quirk not listed here: They're supposed to heal damage every time they hit someone. However, it's coded strangely. They made it so that they heal themselves, but then they also made it so that they convert the damage dealt to a negative number and then heal themselves for that much.
This would have worked if they damaged themselves for the negative number, or healed themselves for the positive number, but because they tried to convert their damage into healing in two different spots, Sweepers literally hurt themselves for the same damage they deal when they hit anything. This game's coding, ya'll. Altogether, I usually consider them a threat roughly on par with Green Noon, though which one will give you more problems is largely based on whether your armor blocks Red or Black damage better.
That said, our strategy here is simple: We ignore them unless they come to us, and continue pushing works out the second they become available, avoiding corridors they're in as best we can and Black bulleting agents who get caught in the crossfire. We don't need the energy and we're in a freaking hurry, remember?
Oh, thank goodness. There're no Sweepers in Welfare right now.
...how can you tell?
The colors. Our hallways have red sirens that go off when an abnormality or ordeal is in them. If you look for the red, you can see where enemies are.
Oh, I'll keep that in mind. Well then, let's work fast before anything unexpected hap-
I won't let you by! As… as long as I draw breath!
One Black bullet is all it takes to make sure he wins this fight. Also note the one dead Sweeper on the floor already. Kid's come a long way.
Oh, there's little Gaia! I remember how he nearly died on his first day. If not for the training I gave him, he'd be a goner…
Oh would you just shut UP.
But I'm right! I'm definitely right! They're ungrateful… It's all their fault!
Mmnnngh… I've had about enough of your sanctimonious, self-righteous crap. All that training you were doing since Tiffany died wasn't to help the team, it was to convince yourself you were doing something important!
Tiffany's got a counseling appointment! She's not-
Geez loueeze, this again? Tiffany is dead! She died because she was an enkephalin junkie! You gave her her fix, and she OD'd and died in the damn Safety department! Don't look away from that!
*gasp*
I'm a good Sephirah! I'm not… I haven't done anything wrong! It's everyone else… they just don't understand!
They understand just fine! You're trying to prove you're kind so that you can puff your chest out and feel proud of yourself. That's dumb!
It's not dumb to better yourself!
You're not bettering anything-you're too busy denying the truth entirely!
This should be the last couple of works we need to clear the day. Just a little longer...
Um… M-manager! Please look into Punishing Bird's current position! Hurry, many will get hurt!
…
...Please?
You see? Whenever you have to face an ugly truth about yourself, you just turn away from it to look at something else!
But… I haven't… M-manager, I'm just trying to be a good, kind person!
Just because you're trying to be kind now doesn't erase the fact that you called down a damn Arbiter on us, Michelle!!!
But… but I… I never...
An Arbiter?!
No buts! It happened because of your actions, just like with Tiffany! When are you going to stop pretending that you can't do any wrong?!
But I haven't done anything wrong! I've NEVER done anything wrong! Do you have any idea how hard I work? Every single one of you would be dead without me! Would it kill any of you to be grateful for it, every once in a while?! If you don't appreciate it, maybe you SHOULD all just die!
Hod, please! You know I know how hard you work!
Medea..? Oh… Oh no, I… I didn't mean it like that, I… I forgot...
Nah. You got pissed and you said exactly what you were thinking. I'd know… lord knows I did a lot of that with Malkuth.
And here. You definitely said some unnecessary things here, sir.
Hey, I'm doing my best!
I yelled at Medea… I caused so much destruction… Tiffany died because of me… and I hurt everyone trying to prove how much they need me.
I guess I just never was a good person from the start…
And so, we clear it in 6:14, well below our target time. The first Chesed mission is fairly easy no matter when you do it.
...I don't feel good about this, sir.
Well, the Qlipha alert's been cleared at least. She needed to face reality, even if that reality was crap.
For her sake, I hope you're right.
You should go. It's probably best that Angela not find out about these visits.
Yes… That's for the best, sir.
Music: never frozen bottom flows
...You've done it again, X.
Well, what can I say? I have a gift.
So it seems. I shall begin coordinating the cleanup effort. Things should be back to normal by tomorrow.
Good. Here's hoping this put another good bit of energy towards that Seed of Light, whatever it is.
You'll remember before too long.
I hope so. I'm getting tired of only half-knowing what's going on.
O-03-88: The only advice that can be given is to remain cautious and aware of your surroundings.
F-02-58: Still, it didn't matter to him. After all, he was "destined" to be a big bad wolf.
T-01-31: From break and ruin, the most beautiful performance begins.
Two WAWs and an ALEPH today, so let's go through them. First is -88, which is a WAW that breaches if we spend too long working on it. It's a pretty good Insight trainer, and a source of White weapons-but it doesn't have any sort of suit, so it's not great defensively.
Next is -58, which is one of the best Instinct trainers in the game. It doesn't breach often, but when it does it's a complete pain in the ass to suppress. Despite this, its completely unique E.G.O gift slot makes it a necessary evil in facilities which are trying to fill out gifts as much as possible. It's also part of a set of two abnormalities, which instantly breach when they get too close to each other-this is something to keep in mind should we decide to take it.
As for -31, it's an ALEPH with a QC that decreases on both Bad and Good results. When it does breach, and it will, it can reset our energy gauge for the entire day if we don't beat it down quickly enough. Given that Dusk and Midnight ordeals can show up now, this could force us into fighting something really nasty. In exchange, it grants us one of the few ways to get outright immunity to an element, and like all ALEPHs its gear is top-notch. Unfortunately, it's slow and I'm in the middle of Chesed.
I decide to grab -88, since White weapons will be invaluable for something I'm building towards down the road.
Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: We should probably make sure Hod is alright.
Bonus
VIDEO: Hod Core Suppression
Music: neutral 1
After last time, I can't help but feel tense. No one would blame you for looking the other way, X. Not very partnerly, Angela. Try being supportive. ...The other Sephirot have been put to sleep for the time being. I wish you the best of luck, manager. I'll be sure to deliver. Let's do this.Music: Second Trumpet
There's no wavy effects or anything like with Malkuth's meltdown. Everything seems almost normal so far.
Hod, you can hear me, right? I sure can, manager. I'm glad you're here. It's time to film! What. Our training video! Did you forget? It's okay, let me take care of things! A training video? What the hell? It seems like she's still suffering some hallucinations. We'll have to carefully get beyond that before we can get anything done. BWAH! Don't just sneak up behind someone like that! Sorry, manager. I thought you might like the help. Well, I certainly don't not want it. So, we need her to face reality? Yes, but be careful. Her mental state is incredibly delicate. Let's all do our best today! Lights, camera, action!!Like Malkuth (and every other Sephirot), Hod also has a set of text that changes as we go.
All Levels wrote:
Level 1 wrote:
Hey… what's that smell? Seems like there's something coming out of the vents. Heeheehee…. Hey Taalow… I feel kinda funny..! ..! Twee, it's a sedative. Be careful! Oh, uh-yeah! Sure!Hod's Suppression tests our ability to work through a day where our agents are weaker than the abnormalities they're supposed to be working-think back to day 10, but now we have WAWs and ALEPHs. I've heard it described as Hod temporarily turning things into one of those 70s-80s era training videos, and it's a very apt description. For a quick comparison, here's Twee's stats from the preparation screen:
And here's her at day start:
Altogether, she's got a +5 Movement Speed from the Control team's clerks, a +5 Work Success rate from the Information team's clerks, and a -15 penalty to all stats from Hod. Our facility's focus on optimized training gives us a bit of an advantage, but this will get worse and is why Hod's generally considered the hardest of the Upper Sephirah to suppress. All of our stat-gated Abnormalities which require 5's in stats are now ticking timebombs, and the most common causes of death vs Hod are either having suddenly-weakened agents get shredded by Green Noon, or meltdowns spawning on stat-gated ALEPHs like Blue Star or Nothing There when your agents are all below the threshold.
So that's what abnormalities look like from here, huh? Pretty much. I've heard it's a lot less terrifying than the real thing. For sure. These look a lot cuter-why, I want to ask what that cutie-patootie Ppodae looks like under this filter. I'll send you a picture after we're done here. Let's just get Mizu to work on it, we don't have time to do proper research today.So, as I said before we're on a 10 minute time limit. This means we're not going to have time to do my usual strategy of fully investigating our newest abnormality. Instead, our plan is to spam works as quickly as possible. Right now, it takes 12 works to progress a level. We need to get to level 6 to clear the day, so we have to go through 5 levels. That's a total of 60 works, which isn't nearly as huge an ask as you'd think.
Pictured: 13 total works at once (including Control, which is just offscreen). Chesed's missions do not count time spent on pause, so it's best to do everything in giant batches to get through the day ASAP. We've also got Tenebrais on a special mission.
Hod, I didn't ask for a training video to get filmed, and that's not even what's going on. But manager, that's got to be what's happening! I remember clearly that you told me we'd be doing this today! I saw your memories, Hod. I know what happened. First there was the issue with giving out Enkephalin to junkies, and now all the extra training that made your employees rebel. How do you get from that to 'make a training film?' I can try that conflict resolution thing or whatever, but I need you to act rationally. I… but…Music: Theme - Retro Time ALT (You should probably listen to this.
) Um… I'm not worrying about that right now! It's more important that this video get made! Wow… you really are bad at this. I'm trying, okay?!With level 2 we get our first real graphical interference-the screen looks a bit more like an old time CRT tv that an old VHS training video would be played on. We also get our stat penalty up to -25. Please ignore Tenebrais's stats, I mistimed You Must Be Happy and she's got a whopping penalty on top of it. Speaking of…Level 2 wrote:
That's much better. You Must Be Happy can fairly easily negate most of the penalties Hod gives us, and makes this tool a hard counter to the entire suppression. If we were unsure, we could have every agent in the entire facility wander over here and work with YMBH until they were all buffed for the day and just proceed like normal.
That would take way longer than 10 minutes, though, so I've prioritized Tenebrais and Kaori for this treatment. Tenebrais will be heading down to Central to work with Nothing There, and Kaori gets to stay in Safety to make sure Blue Star doesn't have problems.
Anyways, we start queueing up a lot more works as soon as the cooldowns on the cells are cleared. This will happen a lot today.
So, got any bright ideas? Thank you for asking! The proper protocol to deal with meltdowns is to ensure that they're worked by an appropriate agent as soon as possible. So long as you do that, nothing out of the ordinary will occur. With an abnormality like Long Bird… None that come to mind immediately. Dealing with agents who are already this mentally corrupted doesn't usually fall to the Training team. Then… hm. When did she start this latest round of extra training? It was… oh, about two weeks ago? Almost precisely. …Aha. I see. See what? The reason for all of this. But most importantly, never ever put Punishing Bird into its scales! I know it might seem cute, but this simple action can trigger a chain reaction if the facility contains- Hod. No matter how hard you work, or how much you try and make your agents follow along with you, it won't bring Tiffany back. ...what? This training stuff, it's not for the agents at all, is it? Someone died because of your policy. You want to feel better about it, so you worked extra hard. That's ridiculous! I work harder to help the other agents here than anyone else! Manager, aren't you being a little harsh..? You do work hard to try and help your agents. The problem is that they all hate you for it. Am I wrong, Hod? Medea? I mean, I have to field some complaints from time to time, but that's just how it is. Every department has some people who don't quite mesh. ...It's alright, Medea, but I already know. My employees complain plenty. They don't understand my kindness… They never do. I try my best, and they talk like they talked to my face, but they talk behind my back instead. So… why don't they understand it? I don't know… I don't know! You have to know! You're not an idiot, Hod! You're just running away from it! They hate you because you're not doing any of this for anyone but yourself! Manager, please! Calm down! You need to talk things through normally and- I can't talk with someone living in a fantasy world! At least Malkuth hated me for things I'd actually done! But I haven't done anything wrong! I'm doing my best! I'm a good Sephirah!Amber Dawn is more of a time waster than anything, but since they don't take long to suppress and are worth 10% of our energy total, we take care of them while waiting for our work cooldowns to expire.Level 3 wrote:
This is what the feather weapon looks like when being used. It fires fairly fast, making it a decent WAW weapon despite not being affected by Attack Speed.
We also get a Queen Bee puff, but now that we have Red bullets we can block the damage, which stops our agents and clerks from getting hurt at all. It takes ~2 red bullets to fully stop someone from dying (maybe 3 if it's a clerk), but it can be worth it.
Unfortunately I missed one of the pollen'd clerks. The bee doesn't leave this room, though, so there's no problem!
Hod you are literally screwing up the entire facility right now because you're pretending we're shooting some training video. Of course I'm mad at you. I'm furious. Manager, that's enough out of you! Hod's doing her best to… to… I know she's not exactly helping, but she thinks she is! You have to make her see she isn't! I'm not going to do that by blowing smoke up her chassis, Medea! Ghh… This isn't anything like what happened with Malkuth. Bishop, you moron! Ordeal's done. Wasn't it harder than usual? Wasn't it? One of the clerks birthed a bee, and more died waiting for your agents to suppress the Dawn between works. Without me, things don't work as well, but nobody ever thanks me. Nobody's ever shown gratitude for what I do… for how hard I work to keep them safe… I'm telling you that's not what you're doing at all! You're just selfishly shoving your ideas onto them! Hod's trying really hard, manager! Yeah, but it's not for you employees at all! She's being selfish! But I'm always helping, manager! Can't you see it? Can't you see the way they all suffer without me? You are literally sedating my agents. They're suffering because of you!Music: Theme - Retro Time ALT (Distorted ver)
No, no, no, things don't work without me. They just don't work without me..!Level 4 wrote:
Tiffany… where's Tiffany? I was going to have her interview for the training video after her counseling session… Great. You've made things even worse. She's not going to get better unless she admits there's a problem. More pressingly, these things come in indigo?!There's a lot to unpack here, so here we go: First of all, Hod's debuffs increase to -35 to all stats. Remember, the best our agents can get without E.G.O gifts right now is 110 in a single stat if everything lines up right, which means 75 is all that's left-without a lot of gift stacking or use of YMBH it's impossible to have a level 5 ability at this stage of the suppression.
Secondly, the CRT filter gets even worse, like we're watching a videotape so old it's about to fall apart.
Thirdly, new ordeal! Say hello to Indigo Noon, The Sweepers. This Noon is special because it can't appear before Day 26. As a result, it's a bit tougher than the others to handle.
Manager… those are sweepers! They're what? Sweepers, sir! At night in the Backstreets… oh, nevermind! Do you keep track of the personnel folders?! I uh… I mostly do? But what are you asking for? If Mizu sees those things, she's going to go ballistic! We definitely can't afford that right now! Tiffany… Why are you so late..? Uugh… we have to move then. And fast.Indigo Noon spawns in a lot of Sweepers, a total of 12 overall. They wander the facility, but don't have any AI rules about staying together so they can get pretty much anywhere. Their main attack comes out relatively fast, and their charged attack-while a little slower-is much stronger. They also have one last quirk not listed here: They're supposed to heal damage every time they hit someone. However, it's coded strangely. They made it so that they heal themselves, but then they also made it so that they convert the damage dealt to a negative number and then heal themselves for that much.
This would have worked if they damaged themselves for the negative number, or healed themselves for the positive number, but because they tried to convert their damage into healing in two different spots, Sweepers literally hurt themselves for the same damage they deal when they hit anything. This game's coding, ya'll.
Altogether, I usually consider them a threat roughly on par with Green Noon, though which one will give you more problems is largely based on whether your armor blocks Red or Black damage better.That said, our strategy here is simple: We ignore them unless they come to us, and continue pushing works out the second they become available, avoiding corridors they're in as best we can and Black bulleting agents who get caught in the crossfire. We don't need the energy and we're in a freaking hurry, remember?
Oh, thank goodness. There're no Sweepers in Welfare right now. ...how can you tell? The colors. Our hallways have red sirens that go off when an abnormality or ordeal is in them. If you look for the red, you can see where enemies are. Oh, I'll keep that in mind. Well then, let's work fast before anything unexpected hap- I won't let you by! As… as long as I draw breath!One Black bullet is all it takes to make sure he wins this fight. Also note the one dead Sweeper on the floor already. Kid's come a long way.
Oh, there's little Gaia! I remember how he nearly died on his first day. If not for the training I gave him, he'd be a goner… Oh would you just shut UP. But I'm right! I'm definitely right! They're ungrateful… It's all their fault! Mmnnngh… I've had about enough of your sanctimonious, self-righteous crap. All that training you were doing since Tiffany died wasn't to help the team, it was to convince yourself you were doing something important! Tiffany's got a counseling appointment! She's not- Geez loueeze, this again? Tiffany is dead! She died because she was an enkephalin junkie! You gave her her fix, and she OD'd and died in the damn Safety department! Don't look away from that! *gasp*It may be hard to tell, but we've hit meltdown 5 here. Not much left to do but queue up as many works as we can, as fast as we can-just like the end of Malkuth, we want to skip ahead quickly to finish Chesed's mission. A meltdown does spawn on Nothing There, but Tenebrais is able to take care of it handily since we boosted her with YMBH earlier-a good thing, since otherwise we might have to redo the entire day..Level 5 wrote:
I'm a good Sephirah! I'm not… I haven't done anything wrong! It's everyone else… they just don't understand! They understand just fine! You're trying to prove you're kind so that you can puff your chest out and feel proud of yourself. That's dumb! It's not dumb to better yourself! You're not bettering anything-you're too busy denying the truth entirely! This should be the last couple of works we need to clear the day. Just a little longer...
Um… M-manager! Please look into Punishing Bird's current position! Hurry, many will get hurt! … ...Please? You see? Whenever you have to face an ugly truth about yourself, you just turn away from it to look at something else! But… I haven't… M-manager, I'm just trying to be a good, kind person! Just because you're trying to be kind now doesn't erase the fact that you called down a damn Arbiter on us, Michelle!!! But… but I… I never... An Arbiter?! No buts! It happened because of your actions, just like with Tiffany! When are you going to stop pretending that you can't do any wrong?! But I haven't done anything wrong! I've NEVER done anything wrong! Do you have any idea how hard I work? Every single one of you would be dead without me! Would it kill any of you to be grateful for it, every once in a while?! If you don't appreciate it, maybe you SHOULD all just die! Hod, please! You know I know how hard you work! Medea..? Oh… Oh no, I… I didn't mean it like that, I… I forgot... Nah. You got pissed and you said exactly what you were thinking. I'd know… lord knows I did a lot of that with Malkuth. And here. You definitely said some unnecessary things here, sir. Hey, I'm doing my best! I yelled at Medea… I caused so much destruction… Tiffany died because of me… and I hurt everyone trying to prove how much they need me. I guess I just never was a good person from the start…And so, we clear it in 6:14, well below our target time. The first Chesed mission is fairly easy no matter when you do it.
...I don't feel good about this, sir. Well, the Qlipha alert's been cleared at least. She needed to face reality, even if that reality was crap. For her sake, I hope you're right. You should go. It's probably best that Angela not find out about these visits. Yes… That's for the best, sir.Music: never frozen bottom flows
...You've done it again, X. Well, what can I say? I have a gift. So it seems. I shall begin coordinating the cleanup effort. Things should be back to normal by tomorrow. Good. Here's hoping this put another good bit of energy towards that Seed of Light, whatever it is. You'll remember before too long. I hope so. I'm getting tired of only half-knowing what's going on.O-03-88: The only advice that can be given is to remain cautious and aware of your surroundings.
F-02-58: Still, it didn't matter to him. After all, he was "destined" to be a big bad wolf.
T-01-31: From break and ruin, the most beautiful performance begins.
Two WAWs and an ALEPH today, so let's go through them. First is -88, which is a WAW that breaches if we spend too long working on it. It's a pretty good Insight trainer, and a source of White weapons-but it doesn't have any sort of suit, so it's not great defensively.
Next is -58, which is one of the best Instinct trainers in the game. It doesn't breach often, but when it does it's a complete pain in the ass to suppress. Despite this, its completely unique E.G.O gift slot makes it a necessary evil in facilities which are trying to fill out gifts as much as possible. It's also part of a set of two abnormalities, which instantly breach when they get too close to each other-this is something to keep in mind should we decide to take it.
As for -31, it's an ALEPH with a QC that decreases on both Bad and Good results. When it does breach, and it will, it can reset our energy gauge for the entire day if we don't beat it down quickly enough. Given that Dusk and Midnight ordeals can show up now, this could force us into fighting something really nasty. In exchange, it grants us one of the few ways to get outright immunity to an element, and like all ALEPHs its gear is top-notch. Unfortunately, it's slow and I'm in the middle of Chesed.
I decide to grab -88, since White weapons will be invaluable for something I'm building towards down the road.
Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: We should probably make sure Hod is alright.
Bonus
VIDEO: Hod Core Suppression
Last edited by TeeQueue on Sat Oct 03, 2020 5:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Good work on completing the training video.
Do you think the long, raised 'hoses' on Hod's eldritch form are supposed to resemble a noose...?
Do you think the long, raised 'hoses' on Hod's eldritch form are supposed to resemble a noose...?
BeachedSpider wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 10:39 amDo you think the long, raised 'hoses' on Hod's eldritch form are supposed to resemble a noose...?
I didn't before but holy shit. I love this game so much.
Hopping over here bc SA needs to chill the f out.
Hod is the example of the pain that comes from your best not being good enough, when people depend on you. It sucks.
Hod is the example of the pain that comes from your best not being good enough, when people depend on you. It sucks.
It’s interesting to see this right after the Malkuth suppression since it feels like their breakdowns are for kind of similar reasons. Like Malkuth was just looking for validation that she was good enough and Hod just wanted to know if she was a good person, both of them struggling with “doing their best” and it not turning out well.
They both just really needed a hug.
Also solid improvement for X, handled Hods breakdown better than Malkuths. He was a jerk about it, but he was right you can’t work on a problem until you admit you have one.
They both just really needed a hug.
Also solid improvement for X, handled Hods breakdown better than Malkuths. He was a jerk about it, but he was right you can’t work on a problem until you admit you have one.
Yeah, that was a nice contrast to how it went with Malkuth. Medea didn't really get to do much, but I have a feeling she's not done with this topic.
By the way, I'm surprised no one has said anything about the scariest part of the update:breaching going on a rampage sounds like a facility-ending event, and I'm not sure rewinding would help.
By the way, I'm surprised no one has said anything about the scariest part of the update:
MizuTeeQueue wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 7:42 am
So, doing some math here. We've got 8 suppressions left to get to 100%, which means we've got four departments left to open? That'd get us to 50 days at the end. Will probably have to open the last two back to back on days 41-42 (lower left and lower right), to maximize the time to complete those missions by day 50? Man there really is a lot left.
I'm guessing beating day 50 and doing all the core suppressions unlocks the true ending and you're trying to get there in one run which seems insane. But I hope you show off/explain what happens if you get through day 50 *without* that, too.
I'm guessing beating day 50 and doing all the core suppressions unlocks the true ending and you're trying to get there in one run which seems insane. But I hope you show off/explain what happens if you get through day 50 *without* that, too.
We have a number of Abnormalities on staff. Mizu is pretty unnerving, but can you imagine the Anime Brigade breaking loose? Maybe less overt physical damage, but the White damage is probably pretty bad when they get going. If you've never seen someone die of cringe before, it's not a pretty sight.Carpator Diei wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:22 pmMizubreachinggoing on a rampage sounds like a facility-ending event, and I'm not sure rewinding would help.
Hod/Michelle is basically just "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions" as a person (or at least that's my take) tries to do "the right thing" but messes everything up. Is it just me or was she on the short road to becoming Netzach II? the "escape" through drugs is there and she didn't seem far from losing hope that she can help people.
Day 27: Supplemental
Day 20: The Universe Where Credentia Wore the Wrong Pants, Day 7
Oooh I'm heading on back 'cause I founda cool thing, so I went and I grabbed it and a -home I will briiing, it? Oh!
Well hello there, little cutie! I can smell you in there! You wanna come out and play?
. . . aww. It ran.
Oh well! Hey everyone! I'm ho~ome!!
Mizu? Is that you? Did you find Omni and Chinely? Oh god-what happened to your face?!
I got hungry.
Ooo… what did it taaste like..?
Jerky! Also, teeth.
You ate the teeth, too? N-no, nevermind. So, how's the rest of Control doing?
Well, Chinely said something about swearing an oath over Bishop's sacrifice to find a way out… so him and Boksi and Omni are all working together to dig a way deeper so we can hole up in a really deep bunker before that cutie Blue Star gets out. They found a bunch of supplies sealed off way, waaaay below the Training department, but not much else. That ora ora stuff is really good for digging through to vents!
That's good. I was worried those two'd take it harder. When the regenerator started running at half-capacity… Well, we were all a little out of sorts when... the bees… Well, Safety's been barricaded off, so that's not a problem anymore.
You mentioned suppliies..? Did they manage to get iin?
Don't you worry about that! It took a while, but I got through the door, and I got first pick on the stuff in there! It was just a bunch of tubes, though. I took the shiniest one.
Tubes? What kind of tubes?
Here, I'll show you!
It's the stuff that makes your insides out!
Mizu, that stuff's super dangerous! You remember what they said in training-if we see any out and about we're supposed to notify management immediately.
Mmm… But the management's gone miissing… I guess we could caall them…
Still… it's got to be a ticking time bomb.
Oh, no problem! It's empty now. I'm just gonna cut off the stabby end and use it as a shotglass.
...It wasn't empty befoore?
Nope! But I like my insides inside so I made sure to get rid of it. Luckily, I found somewhere to do it!
...Mizu. What did you do.
There was this agent, right? And their insides were already outside, but they weren't quite dead. So… since their insides were already outside I figured it wouldn't hurt to jab it in and push the thingy and empty it out right there!
Why didn't you just drain it onto the floor?!
'cause that'd stain the tile, duh.
Oooo!!!! That could meean something iinteresting will happen..!
Yeah, but I waited around for like ten minutes and they just convulsed a whole bunch. It sucked. I wanted to see something cute. That body must'a been just too weak.
You're… You're grounded, Mizu.
What?! But I didn't even do anything!
No buts! Grounded! Kaori, you're on going out duty if anything comes up.
Awwwww…
Hooraay..! I get to see stuuff..!
Training Department, A Hallway
[this image has been redacted for excessive gore]
musn't… die… can't… die… won't… die...
this world… must be... healed… so much… I must… do… still…
I… won't... Gh…. Ghhk… Burns… Won't stop...
GYRRAAAAGH…!!!
Day 20: The Universe Where Credentia Wore the Wrong Pants, Day 7
Oooh I'm heading on back 'cause I founda cool thing, so I went and I grabbed it and a -home I will briiing, it? Oh! Well hello there, little cutie! I can smell you in there! You wanna come out and play? . . . aww. It ran. Oh well! Hey everyone! I'm ho~ome!! Mizu? Is that you? Did you find Omni and Chinely? Oh god-what happened to your face?! I got hungry. Ooo… what did it taaste like..? Jerky! Also, teeth. You ate the teeth, too? N-no, nevermind. So, how's the rest of Control doing? Well, Chinely said something about swearing an oath over Bishop's sacrifice to find a way out… so him and Boksi and Omni are all working together to dig a way deeper so we can hole up in a really deep bunker before that cutie Blue Star gets out. They found a bunch of supplies sealed off way, waaaay below the Training department, but not much else. That ora ora stuff is really good for digging through to vents! That's good. I was worried those two'd take it harder. When the regenerator started running at half-capacity… Well, we were all a little out of sorts when... the bees… Well, Safety's been barricaded off, so that's not a problem anymore. You mentioned suppliies..? Did they manage to get iin? Don't you worry about that! It took a while, but I got through the door, and I got first pick on the stuff in there! It was just a bunch of tubes, though. I took the shiniest one. Tubes? What kind of tubes? Here, I'll show you! It's the stuff that makes your insides out! Mizu, that stuff's super dangerous! You remember what they said in training-if we see any out and about we're supposed to notify management immediately. Mmm… But the management's gone miissing… I guess we could caall them… Still… it's got to be a ticking time bomb. Oh, no problem! It's empty now. I'm just gonna cut off the stabby end and use it as a shotglass. ...It wasn't empty befoore? Nope! But I like my insides inside so I made sure to get rid of it. Luckily, I found somewhere to do it! ...Mizu. What did you do. There was this agent, right? And their insides were already outside, but they weren't quite dead. So… since their insides were already outside I figured it wouldn't hurt to jab it in and push the thingy and empty it out right there! Why didn't you just drain it onto the floor?! 'cause that'd stain the tile, duh. Oooo!!!! That could meean something iinteresting will happen..! Yeah, but I waited around for like ten minutes and they just convulsed a whole bunch. It sucked. I wanted to see something cute. That body must'a been just too weak. You're… You're grounded, Mizu. What?! But I didn't even do anything! No buts! Grounded! Kaori, you're on going out duty if anything comes up. Awwwww… Hooraay..! I get to see stuuff..!Training Department, A Hallway
[this image has been redacted for excessive gore]
musn't… die… can't… die… won't… die... this world… must be... healed… so much… I must… do… still… I… won't... Gh…. Ghhk… Burns… Won't stop... GYRRAAAAGH…!!!