8:00 a.m. — Work officially begins.
The moment the gray buttons on the control panel lit up and became operable, X almost immediately pressed the command to begin the workday.
And the instant the internal facility feed appeared on-screen, he couldn't wait to switch all surveillance cameras to the newly opened Central Command.
"Let me see for myself…"
X muttered nonstop under his breath,
"Just what kind of so-called 'magical girl' you are… Are you the quotation-mark kind — an indescribable eldritch horror…"
"Or…"
"…the genuinely cute, full-on, classic two-dimensional magical girl type…"
"…Hiss!"
When the viewpoint shifted to one of the brand-new containment units, X sucked in a sharp breath.
Shock. Disbelief.
Every word that could describe extreme astonishment applied perfectly to his expression at this moment.
"Holy—! It really is a magical girl!"
The words slipped out of his mouth instinctively, his voice filled with Excitement he hadn't even realized himself.
—
Inside the unit stood an Abnormality with the appearance of a lively, youthful girl.
Her skin was fair, her long hair a soft, pale blue, and her eyes a bright, shining yellow.
In her hair was a delicate heart-shaped ornament, black with pink trim.
Even with the cognition filter in effect, X could still clearly tell from the slightly cartoonish art style just how cute and charming she truly was.
Looking further down, he saw the pink bow tied at her neck, and the frilly princess dress she wore — primarily pink and white.
Her lower half was clad in clean white stockings and a pair of small pink shoes.
And floating beside her was a real, honest-to-goodnessmagic wand.
—A white-and-pink staff, topped with a pink pentagram and a pale-blue heart.
The pentagram was hollow, cleverly forming the outline of a heart within it.
On either side were small white wings, gently fluttering up and down as the Abnormality nodded and shook her head.
By every conceivable standard, this newly arrived Abnormality matched perfectly the classic depictions found in old fantasy-themed entertainment from a bygone era.
—
"Ahem."
At that moment, Angela let out a soft but pointed cough from beside him.
"Manager, you seem to be a bit too absorbed."
"Please proceed with assigning today's work."
"Oh—right… work…"
Only then did X snap back to reality.
He hastily composed himself, rubbing the area between his upper lip and nose in embarrassment, gratefully taking the chance to step down from his lapse.
Losing his composure like that in front of his secretary really was rather improper.
But… could he really be blamed entirely?
The Abnormalities he'd been containing lately — starting from the Spider Nest — had each been heavier than the last, one sanity-destroying nightmare after another.
Now, after all that, a pleasant-looking, seemingly easygoing Abnormality finally appeared.
Was it really so wrong to feel a little happy?
"…It's not like a few extra minutes will matter."
X defended himself silently as he switched the view to another containment unit in Central Command.
"Let me check on the other new one first."
—
Compared to the magical girl designated O-01-04, T-01-68 looked far more plain.
It was also humanoid, but lacked that otherworldly, dreamy aesthetic entirely.
Its head was a pure-white butterfly.
Its body possessed five long, human-like arms — one of which extended directly from its slender neck.
It wore an all-black outfit, yet the arm emerging from its neck was dressed in a pristine white sleeve.
Behind it, two black hands jointly carried a massive black coffin.
On the coffin was a mysterious symbol resembling the white butterfly that formed its head.
The overall impression was that of a solemn funeral guide — an officiant leading the departed onward.
It was difficult to imagine that this quiet, enigmatic T-01-68 and the lively, wide-eyed magical girl next door both belonged to the same category of dangerous existence known as Abnormalities.
—
After a brief round of test work concluded—
"…Alright, I understand."
Watching the footage on the monitor, X ended the call with an elite employee.
Although the Intelligence Department had yet to send over full data, his accumulated experience already allowed him to analyze a good portion himself.
He took out pen and paper and began jotting things down:
O-01-04
Damage Type: Erosion (BLACK)
maximum PE-box yield: 22
Possesses Qliphoth Counter Overload capability
Preliminary classification: WAW-class Abnormality
High success rate for Communication work.
After work completion, restores both HP and SP to employees.
After writing that, X started a new line:
T-01-68
Damage Type: Mental (WHITE)
maximum PE-box yield: 16
No Qliphoth Counter Overload observed after work
Predicted classification: HE-class
extremely low success rate for Communication work,
but the Abnormality itself appears capable of conversation…
"..."
X paused his pen.
Based on these notes alone, it was hard to believe that the harmless-looking O-01-04 — which even granted benefits to employees — was most likely a WAW-class Abnormality.
Meanwhile, the far more ominous and mysterious T-01-68 was merely a standard HE-class.
"Qliphoth Counter Overload isn't something that would appear so casually in an ordinary Abnormality…"
Once the initial novelty wore off, the rational mindset befitting a Manager reclaimed control.
X shifted his gaze back to the surveillance screen and began thinking seriously.
"Just what kind of danger… something lethal… are we still unaware of when it comes to this magical girl?"
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