Late at night, within the Inner Lobotomy Corporation—inside an Abnormality's world.
"…So that's what's been troubling you today?"
Inside the Abnormality space, after listening to X air out his frustrations, One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds casually brewed him a cup of tea.
"An AI hates the company, but doesn't hate you… that's basically it, right?"
"More or less… I just don't understand."
X lifted the teacup in front of him. The slightly scalding heat against his palms finally brought him back to his senses, and he answered the woman before him.
"Almost everyone is telling me, directly or indirectly, that there's something wrong with this company… but I just can't figure out what the problem actually is."
X had no mind to savor the tea. His thoughts were still circling around every detail of his daytime conversation with Angela—and that shocking burst of red warning light.
"And according to what she said, if she really tried to oppose the company on her own, she'd definitely end up failing miserably…"
"She absolutely knows there would be no good ending. Since she knows it's impossible… then why would she—"
"Don't assume you're smarter than everyone else, X . You're being arrogant."
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds gently interrupted his muttering.
"If she's capable of having such thoughts, then as long as success isn't one hundred percent guaranteed, she would never expose herself."
"You really don't need to worry about that on her behalf."
"…That's true."
X nodded, his expression easing considerably.
"I only know all this because I'm basically cheating. Under normal circumstances, how could I ever get this kind of information?"
"Speaking of which, X ."
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds took a small sip of tea and smoothly changed the topic.
"Recently, you haven't really been sending new employees here for 'confession' work anymore."
"But thankfully, you still come by at night to chat with me, sharing your worries or happy moments…"
"Otherwise, staying here all day long, I'd really be bored enough to rot…"
"Is it really that bad?"
Hearing her say that, X couldn't help but laugh.
"I've always had newly hired employees prioritize coming to you for 'communication' or 'insight' work during their first Abnormality assignment."
"Sigh… the kids you sent these past few days—none of them confessed sincerely."
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds rested her cheek on one hand, her eyes filled with regret.
"There's basically nothing for me to eat…"
"Oh, right… I forgot you feed on the sins within words…"
X suddenly realized.
Only now did he remember that work ratings merely reflected whether an Abnormality was satisfied—they didn't mean its needs were actually fulfilled.
A typical example was the cute little bird in the Information Department. Insight work only satisfied its environmental needs.
But physiological needs like hunger could only be fulfilled through proper instinct work—usually feeding.
"Actually, if you want, I could confess to you too."
A flash of inspiration struck X . His previously Relaxed posture straightened immediately.
"I don't have any unforgivable sins, but I've got plenty of joke-level minor ones~"
"Haa… we'll talk about that some other time."
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds gave him a lazy glance, clearly uninterested in such "petty" sins.
She raised her arms and casually stretched, delivering a yawn that perfectly accentuated her striking curves.
"Haa…"
Then, as if she had dropped all her guard, she lazily leaned forward and collapsed onto the table.
"For some reason… today… I feel a bit sleepy…"
"I probably… can't keep chatting with you anymore… sorry, X …"
"Huh…? That suddenly? Well… alright…"
Seeing her show this kind of exhaustion for the first time, X was surprised.
But he didn't think too deeply about it.
After all, the manager's operation manual clearly mentioned such matters.
Once the daily work ended and Lobotomy Corporation entered its "off-duty" state, the overall suppression strength of the Qliphoth deterrence system was significantly higher than during normal working hours, in order to restrain dangerous Abnormalities.
Perhaps One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds was simply affected because today's suppression level had been raised slightly higher than usual?
That wasn't impossible.
X only felt that letting her sleep sprawled over the table wasn't ideal.
So he stood up from his chair, walked over to her gently, bent down, and asked in the softest voice he could manage:
"Then… should I help you over to that bed?"
He pointed toward the plain stone bed in the corner of the room.
"Don't…"
Still lying on the table, One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds shook her head almost imperceptibly.
"If you're going to move me… then just carry me over…"
"Otherwise… don't touch me…"
"N-no… that's not necessary…"
X instinctively took a small step back, waving his hands helplessly with a wry smile.
"I'm saying, Sin—are you really that trusting of me? I'm a perfectly normal, hot-blooded man. Aren't you afraid I might do something dangerous?"
"Mm… dangerous…?"
She clearly hadn't processed what X was saying.
"If you're worried about danger outside… you can stay here with me…"
It was also possible that her extreme drowsiness had made her incapable of clearly processing external information.
"Even if I'm sleeping… I can still barely keep this place stable…"
"No… really, no need."
X still didn't approach the nun who was on the verge of falling asleep.
Time in the Inner Lobotomy Corporation was limited. While One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds was safe, a man and a woman alone in a room could easily spark things that shouldn't exist.
Especially when one party was in such a defenseless sleeping state…
That was truly a test of self-control.
What made it worse was that the white-haired nun before him had absolutely no sense of personal boundaries, often unintentionally doing things that tempted him to make mistakes.
Like suddenly pressing her ample chest against his back while he was thinking.
Or lifting her long skirt without the slightest concern for exposure, kneeling down and letting him rest his head on her thighs when he was tired… and so on.
Yes. Calm down… calm down…
X forced himself to take a deep breath.
The prototype of this white-haired nun was a skull.
Just a skull.
You shouldn't have improper thoughts toward a skull… X , calm down…
Humans and Abnormalities shouldn't have relationships that cross boundaries… calm down…
After repeatedly reminding himself, X finally managed to rein in his chaotic thoughts.
He took a deep look at One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds, now lying on the table with slow, steady breathing.
His turbulent thoughts finally settled completely.
I must be sick… How could I have such improper thoughts about a close friend who trusts me so much?
No, no—this must be because I've been too busy with work lately…
That's right! Otherwise, how could I possibly have those kinds of impulses toward an Abnormality?!
Muttering inwardly, X left One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds' Abnormality space.
—
After leaving her world, X hurried without pause to the containment unit of the second Abnormality.
Aside from yesterday—when he had to temporarily change his exploration order in order to understand the management method of O-05-76, now confirmed to be called Schadenfreude—X had always explored the Inner World according to containment order.
For Abnormalities whose observation level in reality had already reached the maximum, with nearly all information confirmed, X would, as much as possible, explore or communicate within their Inner Worlds based on the management guidelines and precautions.
The reverse was also true.
If he encountered an Abnormality like Schadenfreude—one whose real-world information was extremely scarce or whose behavior patterns were difficult to predict—X would act far more cautiously.
In such cases, he relied on direct interaction and observation within the Inner Lobotomy Corporation to infer and refine the Abnormality's data.
Then, using that information, he would deduce the correct real-world management rules and response strategies.
"According to the order, today's one should be… the bird's Abnormality world, right?"
X raised his head, confirming the position of the containment unit.
Then he opened the door and stepped inside.
Standing within the unit, he recalled the Abnormality containment list in his mind while silently organizing each exploration he had conducted in the Inner Lobotomy Corporation so far.
"Old Bones has a humanoid form… the Fairy Festival is basically those 'cannibal gatherings' from District 23…"
"Ugh… I really don't want to go back there… why does a ZAYIN-class Abnormality have such a horrifying side?"
"Then there's the soda machine—it's a sailing ship at sea… the Heart of Aspiration is literally just a beating heart…"
"Every Abnormality's Inner World is so unique. I wonder what kind of scene the little bird has in store…"
With curiosity and apprehension intertwined, X reached out and touched the teleportation gate within the containment unit.
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