Ne Job: The Intern from Hell — Chapter 142: "Codifier Descent"
The corridor beyond the First Fragment Room felt wrong.
Not threatening.
Not violent.
Just organized—in the way of a predator that hunts with perfect symmetry.
Light ran in ruler-straight lines across the floor, illuminating a long path flanked by shelves carved with immaculate geometric patterns. Every corner was a perfect angle. Every shadow a perfect gradient. Every particle of dust—absent.
Ne Job shivered. "Yue… I don't think chaos is allowed in here."
"That's exactly the point," she said. "This entire wing belongs to the Codifiers."
He made a face. "The bureaucratic purists. The ones who think creativity is a code violation."
"The very same."
They walked.
With every step, Ne Job felt the Chaos Spark inside him dim just slightly, as though the air itself was trying to regulate its pulse into a neat bar chart.
After a few minutes, Yue paused.
"The Archive changed behind us."
Ne Job glanced back.
He froze.
The corridor had sealed itself. Smooth, seamless. No door. No trace.
"Trapping us?" he asked.
"No," Yue said. "Guiding."
That wasn't better.
---
The Chamber of Perfect Record
The corridor led them into a vast square room—so precise it felt like reality snapped into a different resolution inside it.
A platform dominated the center, engraved with concentric rings of glyphs. Above it floated three crystalline pillars, rotating in flawless synchronicity, humming at exactly the same pitch. No warble. No fluctuation. Mathematical purity.
Ne Job exhaled. "Yue. They alphabetized the air again."
"Brace yourself," she said. "We're in an active Codifier node."
Before Ne Job could respond, the pillars froze.
The hum stopped.
And a flat mechanical voice filled the room:
"UNAUTHORIZED INTERN SIGNATURE DETECTED."
Ne Job sat up straighter like a student caught cheating. "That's me, isn't it?"
"IDENTITY CONFLICT: VERSION DOES NOT MATCH ARCHIVAL RECORD."
"That is also me."
"INITIATING VERIFICATION RITUAL."
The glyphs beneath Ne Job's feet lit up in perfect sequence—rippling outward like a synchronized performance. Yue immediately stepped in front of him, her manual glowing bright white.
"Codifiers," she warned, "identify yourselves!"
The crystals responded:
"WE ARE THE REMAINING DIRECTIVES OF ORDER. WE ARE RECORD. WE ARE ACCURACY. WE ARE THE SYSTEM THAT PRECEDED CHAOS."
Ne Job muttered, "Wow, they sound fun at parties."
Yue whispered, "Ne Job, don't antagonize them."
He nodded. "Right. Be professional."
He took a step forward.
"Listen—uh—crystal authority librarians—"
"SILENCE."
The light intensified.
Yue shoved Ne Job back and slammed her manual into the platform. "Protocol 44B: Assistant Override—Hazardous Protocol Halt!"
The crystals paused.
Then, chillingly:
"ASSISTANT YUE. VERIFICATION: ACCEPTED."
Ne Job blinked. "They know you?"
Yue's voice tightened. "Codifiers recognize all assistants. They designed the assistant hierarchy before the Bureau evolved."
Then the tone changed.
"ASSISTANT YUE. QUERY: WHY DO YOU TRAVEL WITH THE CORRUPTED INTERN?"
Ne Job choked. "Excuse me?! Corrupted?? I shower!"
Yue ignored him. "Define corrupted."
"THE INTERN CARRIES A SPARK THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO THEM. VERSION IS NONSTANDARD. CYCLE MARKS HIM AS ANOMALY."
Her expression shifted—fear mixed with dawning dread.
"Ne Job," she whispered. "They're saying your Spark wasn't originally yours."
The floor vibrated.
Ne Job's heartbeat stumbled. "What do you mean—not originally mine?"
The pillars lowered, focusing beams of white light onto his chest.
The Chaos Spark flared—fighting the pressure.
"THE ANCHOR WAS BROKEN. THE SPARK WAS REASSIGNED. YOU ARE A REPLACEMENT."
Ne Job felt the room tilt.
His voice came out small. "Replacement for who?"
The answer was immediate.
"THE FIRST INTERN."
Yue grabbed his hand as the platform surged.
But the crystals weren't finished.
"THE FIRST INTERN WAS ERASED. THE SPARK WAS SALVAGED. YOU WERE CHOSEN TO INHERIT WHAT REMAINED."
Ne Job's body went cold.
"Salvaged," he whispered. "Like I'm a… spare part."
Yue squeezed harder. "You are not a replacement. You're you."
The pillars dimmed slightly—analyzing her, evaluating her defiance.
Ne Job stepped forward despite the shaking in his hands.
"Tell me everything," he demanded. "What happened to the first intern?"
The Codifiers responded:
"ACCESS DENIED. MEMORY SEALED BY PRE-REBIRTH DIRECTORS."
"Override," Ne Job said. "I'm the current intern."
"DENIED."
"I have their Spark!"
"PARTIAL."
He froze.
"…partial?"
The glyphs shifted, forming a diagram in the air.
A core.
Broken.
Fractured.
A missing half.
Yue's breath hitched. "Ne Job… your Spark is incomplete."
Ne Job stared at the diagram.
At the broken core.
At the empty half glowing like a wound.
"What happened to the other half?" he asked softly.
The entire room shuddered.
The platform cracked.
The crystals' glow flickered violently before the monotone voice returned—glitching:
"REDACTED. REDACTED. REDACTED—"
Then:
"THE OTHER HALF IS ALIVE."
The floor split open beneath them.
Darkness surged upward.
Yue screamed his name.
Ne Job reached for her—
But the Archive swallowed them.
End of Chapter 142 — "Codifier Descent."