Cyberpunk, but urban

"Are you hesitating?"

“As I became fearful of the path I was taking, I also had doubts.”

“It feels like the photosynthesis of plants.”

"Don't be so nervous, close your eyes..."

Even though A tried frantically to control his body so that he could see the face of the woman in front of him clearly, his body still closed his eyes uncontrollably.

"Yes, that's it. Let your body relax as much as possible, and empty your mind... It's a little itchy, isn't it? But you have to bear with it."

"Then... disappear."

At this moment, A, with his eyes closed, saw the woman's face clearly, and also saw her crimson eyes...

Although he could not recall any memories of this woman, he instinctively knew that she was Carmen, the person to whom all his emotions rested, the one he loved most.

The next moment, everything was submerged in endless white light. A closed his eyes again, and at the same time, he closed his eyes again.

When he opened his eyes again, standing in front of him was a huge jar filled with nutrient solution.

A brain, a brain connected to the spine and all nerves, floats in this jar.

Supervisor A, who woke up from the dream, knew what the brain and her neural tissue in front of him were. She was Carmen, who was cruelly and ruthlessly dismembered by them and transformed into a bucket to salvage everything they needed from the well. It was the heaviest sin he had ever committed in his life.

The remains of Carmen and the half-dead living tissue appeared in A's eyes. His memories emerged in his mind in a more turbulent and fierce way. A man wearing a wrinkled suit lining and a tattered white coat on the outside appeared in front of him.

The man's face was covered with stubble and his hair was tangled. It was obvious that he had not taken care of his appearance for a long time. He looked at A dejectedly. After a while, he asked A:

“Do you remember those days when we could still feel the warmth of the sun?”

"We have become so cold now... so cold that we have forgotten to cherish these precious memories... No, or rather, warmth never belonged to us. You feel it too, right?"

The horrible memories of the failed experiments and the deaths of people around him suddenly surfaced in his mind, entwining A like a deadly demon, asking him why he didn't die.

While A was in this state, Angela's cold voice spread to every corner of the company. Day 48 officially began. A, who had regained a part of himself, tried his best to ignore the people in front of him and the memories echoing in his heart, and put all his energy into commanding the work...

Today, Ye Lan is still in charge of the management of the entire construction department, but on the bright side, the two new abnormalities deployed in the construction department today are both tool-type abnormalities, and the abnormalities he needs to manage are still the four deployed two days ago.

Among these four anomalies, Happy Teddy will not escape, and he has conducted final observations on Dissolving Love and Greedy Queen. Even if they are melted, these two anomalies will not cause too serious a crisis.

Therefore, today, there is only one abnormality that he needs to focus on, that is, oh, don't worry about the abnormality that was not dealt with yesterday.

Before Ye Lan walked into the locker room, Geburah, commonly known as Sister Red by the players, who was also the Sephirah of the Punishment Department, met with him. After a brief chat, Geburah told Ye Lan something that he was not sure whether it was bad news or not. The cerebral palsy Bai Ye swapped his containment cell with the containment cell of the Little Red Riding Hood mercenary F-01-57, which he had not touched.

God knows why A kept Bai Ye instead of sending it back into the well, but no matter what, now that the damage response system will be damaged due to today's challenge, causing two random damages to increase fivefold, it is always a good idea to let him, an employee who can easily get an "excellent" evaluation result for Bai Ye, face it.

After all, when the work results are excellent, Bai Ye will restore the physical and mental injuries of employees in the entire facility.

After bidding farewell to Geburah who came to inform him, Ye Lan put on the ego suit [Lost Paradise] obtained by suppressing Bai Ye. It must be said that this set of ego equipment made with Bai Ye, a special abnormality, has become an excellent equipment for managing itself.

Entering the main lounge of the Construction Department, Ye Lan was in a room that had become melted and distorted, as if it were designed by abstract painting masters such as Picasso. In order to avoid being stained by the furniture that was scattered everywhere, Ye Lan could only stand at the entrance of the corridor on the side, quietly waiting for notification from Supervisor A.

Chapter 6. Facing Regret and Sin (Part 2)

"From the moment you stepped into this room, I could tell you were longing for something."

The decadent man stared at A who was directing the work, as if he was pitying an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

"This is a story about two doors..."

He didn't care whether A responded to him or not, he just kept telling his story.

That experiment destroyed Carmen's confidence. It was a radical experiment that she should have been the subject of. Everyone in the team thought that Carmen should not have done it herself.

In the end, Enoch, the child they brought back from the suburbs, who often thought about the meaning of his existence and had a mental level far beyond his peers, volunteered to become the experimental subject to replace Carmen.

Carmen spent quite a long time considering Enoch's request, and finally under pressure from all sides, they approved Enoch's request.

The final result of this hasty experiment was only Enoch's cold body lying on the laboratory table.

The death of this child dealt a severe blow to Carmen's self-confidence. Everyone's expectations pushed her to the brink of collapse little by little.

Lisa, the current Central Headquarters Sephirah - Tiphereth, has no blood relationship with Enoch, but they depend on each other like real siblings. Because of her brother's death, she regards Carmen as the murderer who killed Enoch.

Sad, she cursed Carmen and hoped she would "die soon". Although it was just a little girl's angry words, her tears and accusations still broke the last bit of fragility in Carmen's heart...

"No matter how loudly I called out, there was no response... The only sound in the air was the sound of flowing water."

The decadent man continued speaking, and the memories of the day that A had forgotten came flooding back, making it impossible for him to focus on the screen that had been with him for 48 days.

"I opened the closed door like crazy, but I hope that door will never be opened..."

"Behind the door were her closed eyes."

"But painful feelings like guilt are meaningless, so I tried to drive myself towards the blood-red bathtub..."

At some point, tears welled up in the eyes of A and the man. The depressed man choked and continued:

"Even though she was already unconscious and covered in blood... she was still alive, she was still alive! But in the end, we chose to violate her body with our own hands and buried her deep underground..."

The collapse was like thunder, knocking down the two people facing each other. A and Abram could no longer tell who was talking at this time. There was only each other in their eyes, and they spoke of their despair and sin together. All the work for the company today was thrown to the employees in the facility.

"Warning everyone, Anti-Kabbalah energy melt, level 4."

Angela's report was as emotionless as ever, just as cold as her identity as a machine.

The damage response system briefly returned to normal, and both the staff and the Sephirahs breathed a sigh of relief, except for Ye Lan. The fake Geburah appeared in the upper corridor of the Punishment Department and instantly wiped out the two derivatives of the Pale Noon Test.

Just when the fake Geburah displayed the ego armor and was about to kill the surrounding employees, Ye Lan, who had already made preparations, appeared between them and used the scepter-like weapon of Paradise Lost to block the fake's attack.

"Employees with ego equipment below A-level must leave immediately. Even if it is a fake Geburah, it is still the famous 'Crimson Mist'."

Ye Lan's appearance rescued the employee who was not strong enough in combat in time. He didn't even have time to say thank you. He had to find a way to survive the destruction caused by the fight between Ye Lan and Sister Hong and escape to the elevator closest to him.

"Come on, Best Employee, give that fake me a beating. Damn it, why can't I join you in the fight?"

Hong Jie's voice came from the surrounding speakers, clearly disgusted with the phantom that imitated her collapse during core suppression.

The apple on top of the scepter in Ye Lan's hand lit up red, and Paradise Lost was ready to release its special attack on the enemy. Seizing the flaw exposed by the fake's transformation, Ye Lan swung out the dark wave, and a golden shield popped out from his body at the same time as the attack hit, and together with the anti-corrosion field shield that A, who was struggling to climb up, hit Ye Lan, blocked the fake's attack on Ye Lan with the smile nightmare in his hand.

"All that's left for you and me... is atonement..."

Abram grabbed A's trouser legs and tried to drag A back to the ground, sinking with him into self-denial and disgust.

"The efforts and sacrifices we made, the results we achieved, all of these have their value and meaning. I will not deny all of this, and I will always maintain my vision for the meaning of existence."

Drawing strength from his memories with Tiphereth, A kicked away Abram who was trying to bring him down.

"No matter how much you dream, you will end up back where you started. No matter how beautiful the words are, photosynthesis is an ability that only plants have, not people like you and me! Shouldn't you have known this long ago?! We are the ones who pushed Carmen to death step by step!"

Abram, lying on the ground, blames A and attacks A with Carmen's death.

"She gave everything to me because she believed that I had the determination to protect everything!"

More memories awakened, bringing A greater power, and Geburah's confession made A understand the weight of his determination.

The pistol in his hand that could shoot bullets that could travel through space fired one after another: anti-physical stance shield, anti-mental force field shield, anti-erosion stance shield, anti-mental stance shield... All the shield bullets in his hand that could be used to provide support to Ye Lan were fired by him, making the attacks launched by the fake Geburah on Ye Lan useless again and again.

"We are not what Carmen thinks we are. The only person who trusted us is gone. There is no one here! Why are you so determined?!"

"Because everyone is here for me, they are all waiting for me, and I will never let them down!"

The last layer of shield on Ye Lan's body was also shattered by the attack of the false object, but at the same time, Ye Lan, who had taken the attack that penetrated the shield, also delivered the final blow to it.

Day48's challenge was declared successful with his powerful blow.

Chapter 7. Facing Regret and Sin (Part 2)

However, after passing the challenge, A did not immediately issue an order to complete the work.

His conversation with Abram continues...

"Carmen is right here. She is neither alive nor dead! Can you bear to abandon her and walk towards an unknown future!?"

"Being trapped in this never-ending cycle is our inescapable atonement!"

"But you want to move on to tomorrow and the future?! Do you want to escape from your regrets and sins?!"

But at this time A would not be defeated by his words. Whether it was regret or sin, he had the belief that he could bear it all on his own. The trust entrusted to him by everyone in the company prevented him from falling.

"..."

His broken side, the hope of redeeming his sins through endless reincarnation, the desire for death, all combined into the personality Abram, which laughed.

"In that case,"

"This is the last door that doesn't appear in those stories."

“I can’t open it.”

"This door... is open only to those who have no regrets."

"Do you really think you can open this door?"

There was a sneer on his lips, but A could see hope in his eyes.

It was a door that seemed illusory, but it stood in the secret room they were in. A first notified the employees that work was over, and then, under Abram's expectant and jealous gaze, he pushed open the door.

"You did it. You did what I couldn't do."

Ignoring the disturbing noise made by Abram who was gradually disappearing around him, A stepped into the door and moved forward in the endless light.

……

……

"Fuck it, Ye Zi, let me tell you, I used to be secretly jealous of you, and I thought I could also be named the best employee."

The employee who was saved by Ye Lan came to him after work, and excitedly shook Ye Lan's hand and said to him: "That's Director Geburah. Even if it's just a fake, it's the legendary 'Crimson Mist'. You can actually kill her alone. It's really... really..."

"What is it really?"

Sister Hong's voice appeared behind the employee, and he almost jumped up from the ground. The employee, who had been frightened too much today, ran out as soon as he saw Geburah. He had to go to Hod for psychological treatment later, so he didn't want to put pressure on himself between Ye Lan and Geburah.

"You ran pretty fast." Sister Hong threw away the cigarette butt stuck in the small hole left on the box and said to Ye Lan, "It's really thanks to you today."

"It's no big deal. After all, this isn't the first time I've dealt with you in that state." Ye Lan found a place to sit down and started chatting with Geburah.

Geburah lit up another cigarette and said to Ye Lan in a self-deprecating tone, "Haha, at that time, I was so angry that I lost all my reason and abandoned everyone I had to protect and fought uselessly with those abnormalities."

A passing employee from the Department of Discipline handed Ye Lan a sandwich filled with Thuringian sausage and yellow mustard sauce, and said, "Thank you for supporting us today. This dinner is on me."

After waving goodbye to the employee, Ye Lan said to Geburah, "But you will definitely not let your anger destroy your sanity now, right?"

"Yeah, it feels really good to let go of the past..."

To be honest, watching a box spirit with a brain inside smoking is indeed a strange thing, but Ye Lan can seamlessly see them as the character illustrations in the game, so it is not too weird.

The two continued chatting near the Punishment Department for a while, and an employee from the Research and Development Department ran over.

"Um, is it convenient for me to talk now?"

The employee, who was wearing a black uniform with golden honeycomb stripes, scratched his head and spoke to the two awkwardly.

"R&D department? Why did that hunchbacked guy Binah ask you to come here?" Geburah flicked the ash from his cigarette and looked at the employee in front of him with displeasure in his mechanical eyes.

"I know you have 'issues' with Binah, but he came to me, right?"

Ye Lan rubbed the top of Sister Hong's box like she was rubbing a child's hair. This action made Geburah and the poor employee both stand there in a daze.

"Hey, tell me what's going on. If she reacts later, we won't have time to chat."

Ye Lan poked the stunned R&D employee and asked him to tell him the matter quickly. At the same time, Geburah was already blinking her eyes. His action would not be able to shock the box spirit for long.

The employee also seized this opportunity and explained the matter in the shortest possible words: "Oh, the minister asked if you are free to attend the tea party later."

Then, Ye Lan only had time to tell him that he would be there in half an hour before he was chased by a mimic Geburah who took out a camouflage sword from somewhere, all the way from the corridor where they were now into the restaurant.

Half an hour later, Ye Lan appeared next to Binah's tea table as promised. The Sephirah from the R&D department was quite surprised at Ye Lan's current state. After learning from that employee what extraordinary things he had done to Geburah, Binah thought that he would be made into a human stick and thrown at him by Geburah, even if she was in a good mood.

It turned out that Ye Lan's limbs were all intact, with only a few wounds on his body that were still bleeding.

"Don't look at me like that. Sister Hong isn't some murderer. She'll just hit me twice for such a joke and I'll be fine. Besides, I can dodge, right?"

"It's really strange. You, the 'best employee', are weird from head to toe. If we weren't all prisoners in this prison, I would have brought others to try to dismantle your brain."

Seeing the best employee who turned a blind eye to the tombstones around him, Binah became more and more curious about him. In addition to watching Carmen being made into a "bucket" day after day, her current pleasure was to test Ye Lan.

"Haha, that joke is not funny, Garion."

Perhaps it was out of revenge, or perhaps it was because tomorrow was the final challenge of the Construction Department. Ye Lan completely gave up hiding the things he knew that he shouldn't know, and in front of Binah, he called out her name before her death - Garion.

"How could you..."

"Let's keep this secret as a celebratory gift until the day everything is over. After all, secrets are fascinating, aren't they?"

After saying that, Ye Lan left Binah, whose face was distorted with laughter, where she was, and left the R&D department and returned to her dormitory.