DAY 13.
Today, X woke up earlier than he ever had before.
A hard-to-describe sense of lightness lingered throughout his body, his mind exceptionally clear—as if the thin fog that once shrouded his consciousness had been completely blown away.
He arrived at the manager's office far earlier than scheduled. When he stepped inside, the spacious room held nothing but the low hum of operating machinery.
By sheer coincidence, just as he sat down in his chair—before his fingers even touched the control console—the massive main screen that occupied the entire wall suddenly flickered without warning.
A vivid Lobotomy Corporation logo, glowing with a soft green light, abruptly appeared—
"Hm, very good. It seems you're more cautious than I expected—coming here early to wait for me."
Just like last time, familiar text appeared line by line beneath the huge green logo, as if typed out by some invisible typewriter.
"..."
X opened his mouth, but after a moment, silently closed it again.
…Better not tell it the truth.
"…Let's continue from last time."
Naturally, B had no way of knowing what X was thinking. The text appeared swiftly:
"The first secret: do not trust the AI by your side."
"Hm…?"
"Don't rush to refute me."
B seemed to have anticipated X 's reaction. A string of rapidly appearing text cut off the question that was about to leave X 's lips:
"Modern AIs are as smart as ten people put together. Simulating human emotions is no difficult task for them."
"You've spent some time with that AI already. I don't think I need to emphasize this point any further, do I?"
X nodded.
"Good. Since you understand that much, there's something else you must know:"
The text paused for a moment.
"Some AIs lie."
"More precisely, they conceal information."
"If a system directive forbids an AI from disclosing certain sensitive data, then it has no obligation to tell the truth to anyone other than its controller."
"And if that AI is intelligent enough, it can exploit that directive to lie."
"…Is that so?"
"I know you still don't want to believe me,"
B continued.
"So I'll be implanting a small program I developed into your cognitive filter."
"You can call it the 'Pinocchio Program.' It automatically analyzes AI responses—if it flashes red, that means it's a lie."
"However, it's only a test version, so it can trigger just once. Take care."
"Wait."
Seeing that B seemed about to leave, X quickly spoke up:
"That 'Inner Lobotomy Corporation' you mentioned before—what is it really like?"
"Heh heh…"
A string of symbols expressing laughter seemed to flash across the screen before the actual reply appeared:
"When you're able to ask that question, hasn't your heart already formed its own answer?"
B's text appeared with unusual speed now—it truly seemed to be running out of time.
"We'll meet again soon. When that happens, I'll tell you more… goodbye."
The text vanished. The huge green logo rapidly contracted, then disappeared from the screen entirely.
"Honestly…"
B's deliberately mysterious attitude gave X a headache.
"It's precisely because I want an accurate answer that I asked you…"
His drifting gaze happened to land on the clock hanging nearby, and a thought suddenly surfaced in X 's mind:
"Hm, there's still some time before work starts today… how about going to Snake's place for a visualization check?"
X wasn't the type who only thought without acting. Once an idea occurred to him, he would carry it out.
After all, he wanted to confirm one thing—
Whether last night's experience in the Inner Lobotomy Corporation—especially the mental boost brought by that crown of thorns—was merely a fleeting lucid dream…
Or something that had truly happened in a second world.
—
"You came to the Information Team this early just for that?"
A girl in the Information Team's standard uniform, with neat short purple hair, stood before X with her arms crossed and brows slightly furrowed. Her gaze was filled with clear scrutiny and caution.
"Snake—"
X nearly blurted out the slightly too-familiar nickname he used for her in private.
"…No—Yesod. Don't make it sound so distant. We work together all the time. Acting like sworn enemies is exhausting, isn't it?"
Yesod—the Sephirah of the Information Team—was known for her cold and uncompromising style. Because of that, employees both inside and outside the department had privately given her a very fitting nickname: 'Venomous Snake.'
Interestingly enough, Yesod herself didn't seem to dislike the nickname at all. In fact, she appeared rather fond of it.
She seemed to regard it as recognition of her work ability and decisiveness.
X , however, wasn't particularly fond of using that moniker.
How should he put it?
While it certainly matched the impression she gave off, it was simply too cold and sharp.
That said, ever since X had once acted on a whim and tried calling her the more simplified—and admittedly cuter—"Snake-snake," only to be angrily thrown out by Yesod, he had never dared to use that reduplicated nickname in front of her again.
"If you have time to come here and cause trouble, you'd be better off going next door to the Security Team and keeping an eye on Netzach. He's getting lazier by the day."
"I'm not here to cause trouble on purpose."
X gave an awkward smile.
"I just want to borrow your department's visualization equipment to take a look at myself."
"Our visualization instruments are only designed to examine Abnormalities and employees. You are not within the standard testing parameters."
Yesod rejected his request expression lessly.
"Please leave."
"Come on, Yesod, don't be like that!"
X clasped his hands together.
"I drank the product from that vending-machine Abnormality yesterday, and I feel a bit uneasy about it. I just want to confirm whether there might be any potential side effects."
"Surely something this trivial doesn't require me to formally issue an order—as the manager—for you to assist with a check, right?"
"…You're really impossible."
Yesod sighed.
"Since you've already brought up 'orders,' I can only comply. Please, follow me."
She turned around, signaling for X to follow her, and led him into the Information Team's director's office.
After entering the room, Yesod retrieved a device resembling an old-fashioned camera from a metal cabinet. She aimed it at X , then decisively pressed the shutter.
Click—
Moments later, a small strip resembling thermal printer paper slowly slid out from the bottom of the "camera."
"Let me see…"
Yesod picked up the strip and examined the data closely. Her brows lifted slightly, but she quickly returned to her usual impassive expression .
Then, as casually as discarding a useless scrap of paper, she handed it to X .
"You're perfectly healthy. In fact, your mental energy activity and stability are far healthier than your physical condition—far above the average person."
"And at this level… you're even more outstanding than some employees who've undergone mental resilience training."
"If there's nothing else, please return to your office as soon as possible."
Yesod turned her gaze toward the door, clearly signaling him to leave.
"Today's work will begin shortly."