I think I'm getting the hang of this job.
Walking over to the breakroom of the information team, Gerald decides to quickly grab a coffee to refresh his mind and soothe his nerves
A yellow haired agent walks over to Gerald before 'tripping' and spilling boiling hot coffee all over his armor
"AGHHHH FUCK!"
With a smug face, Archer feins ignorance before mocking him
"Oops! Silly me, I should watch where I'm going."
Gerald clocks him in the face, sending him Stumbling backwards into a table
"Fucking Prick."
Hearing the commotion, Cooper rushes over to the scene before helping Archer up and glancing at Gerald briefly
"What the hell is going on here?"
Archer grits his teeth before dusting his suit off and wiping his bloody nose
"Nothing, I just tripped."
Grumbling something under his breath, he walks out with a sour expression
Cooper sighs before cleaning up some of the mess he made from being knocked into the table
Feeling a bit guilty Gerald decides to help out
"Sorry about that."
Cooper waves his hands dismissively
"Nah, he was asking for it anyways. I just wish you could've maybe went a bit easy on em."
"He's an agent too y'know?"
Silently nodding Gerald finishes cleaning up the rest of the spilled coffee on the ground
Looking at the murky liquid covering large portions of his suit, Gerald decides to go back to control team to get it cleaned
After all, the energy quota is about to be finished anyways.
"Captain of the Control team, care to explain why you're making a mess in my department?"
Ah shit
Here we go again.
"Information Sephirah Yesod, it's really funny how you only complain after an issue occurs."
"I don't see how that's relevant to what I've just said."
I'm feeling my blood pressure rising already.
Punish him!
Rectify his Ignorance!
Shut up.
You aren't in control, I am.
"It's relevant because an agent of your team starts an altercation with me, am I expected to not retaliate?"
"No, you are expected to file a report to the Sephirah of the agent's department. Not everything permits a confrontational action."
This dude pisses me off.
"Got it, can I go now?"
Yesod glares at Gerald with his singular purple eye before crossing his arms
"I don't want to hear about something like this again, we do very delicate work here."
"Maybe you wouldn't if your agents were under control."
"What was that? "
Gerald clears his throat before walking away leisurely
"Now, if you'll excuse me."
(Pov: Yesod)
Troublemakers.
Everywhere I go, they just seem to crawl out of nowhere
Ugh, What a headache.
"Cooper, clean this up and deny entry from outsiders of the information team for the moment."
Everything is so messy because of these inept underdeveloped homunculi
And I have to clean all of it up.
"I also want reports on all of the current abnormalities on our department including their enkephalin production"
Cooper nods before walking over to Hunter to relay the message
Good, this should tidy things up for a moment.
Now, I should resubmit the rest of the policy changes to the manager.
I can't believe they were actually still working with these backwater conditions
It's simply barbaric.
With calculated precision, yesod writes a few notes to himself before quickening his pace to the central information team room.
(Pov: Gerald)
Ending up back at the control team, Gerald submitted his suit back to clean and now he didn't have any work for the moment, so he had practically all the time In the world
Maybe I'll go pay Punishing bird a visit.
Gerald goes over to the nearest vending machine and notices that his favorite NüTrition™ Chocolate chip Almond nut granola bar was out of stock
"What the fuck!?"
Gerald presses the button a few more times before kicking the machine
"Fuuuck."
Looking at the other options, Gerald reluctantly decided to buy the boring 'original' flavored chips
"Better then nothing I guess."
Taking a few bites, Gerald walks over to punishing Bird's chamber, before seeing a brown haired agent fiddling with the document posted on the door
He had what Gerald assumed to be the Beak E.G.O set on
"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"
Startled by the abrupt voice of someone talking to him, the brown haired agent fumbles the document in his hand, scattering the papers everywhere
"O-Oh crap."
He immediately begins collecting all of the loose sheets of paper on the floor while nervously glancing at Gerald back and forth
"H-Hello sir, I.. I'm Thomas, the rookie here. I was just hired today."
Neat, I guess I can spare some time to show him the ropes
"Nice to meet you, I'm Gerald, Captain of the Control team."
Thomas awkwardly stood up and placed the document back where it belongs
"Did you read everything on there?"
"Y-Yeah, pretty sure I got it all memorized"
"Great, then I guess ill walk you through the procedures inside so you can get used to our work here"
Thomas tilts his head before slowly gaining the courage to retort
"I remember reading in the employee work manual, only one person is able to enter an abnormalities room at a time"
Gerald waves his hand dismissively before trying to come up with a reasonable excuse
"Don't worry about that, I uhh... since I'm Captain, I don't have to worry about things like that."
Thomas's eyes flickered in a mysterious light before a smile crept it's way onto his face
"Is that really true?"
Giving him a few rough pats on the back, Gerald cleared his throat to change the topic
"Yeah Yeah, now anyways let's not waste anymore time. It's time for your first lesson."
Dragging the rookie into the containment room, Gerald crosses his arms before nudging Thomas
"Go on, I'll see how well you do and give a few pointers while I'm at it."
Thomas scratches the back of his head before slowly approaching the small bird resting on its perch
"H-Hey little birdie.. I-I..."
Thomas looks back at Gerald, trembling in nervousness
"C-Can you please do this first part...?"
What the hell? This is the easiest part.
"All you have to do is sweep the floor, what's so hard about that?"
Thomas pleads while handing Gerald the broom
"I just want to watch you do it first, I'll probably get more confidence watching you..."
Sigh... he's hopeless.
"Alright, but afterwards I'm not helping you with anything else."
Gerald grabs the broom and sweeps all of the feathers into the dustpan while giving a few headpats to the tiny white bird
Suddenly, the bird jumped up before tugging at Gerald's cheek
"Alright Alright! Stop, I got you a snack."
The bird didn't care and tried desperately to drag Gerald's face with its beak
"I get it! I'm sorry but this time I could only get chips-"
Something sharp pierced into him at the back of the head, as a hot liquid trailed down his neck
"Whhgrrghhh tgghe FFFFuugcht?"
Gerald sluggishly turns his head to find the culprit only to see...
"Thomas..?"
With a cold and calculated gaze, Thomas quickly fires another two rounds which Gerald just barely deflects with his arms, rendering both useless
"Tch, how are you not dead yet?"
Gerald coughs out some blood before he unsheathed Penitance
"Why...!?"
Thomas rubs his temples before shaking his head
"What's the use in telling a dead man?"
Gerald activated his muscles into a frenzy before exploding toward Thomas, Gerald sees the bullets coming at him in slow motion, he predicts their trajectory before slowly dodging out of the wa-
*Splat*
Gerald reacted fast enough, but his body refused to move, a bullet digging deep into his neck
While falling down, Gerald makes a horizontal slice and amputated both of his legs at once
Thomas's eyes go wide as he screams with all of his might
"AHHHHH YOU PIECE OF SHIT"
Thomas grabs Gerald's face which is buried into the ground and shoves the Beak E.G.O weapon into his skull, unloading 4 bullets into him before finally relenting
Gerald had long since passed away at this point, as everything has become red
(Pov: ???)
I really screwed up now...
I had my guard down, and I paid the price in full
...
Gerald's consciousness continued drifting in the vast nothingness
Why haven't I woken back up in my room yet...?
...
He began to panic a bit
What if I don't get another chance..?
What if I'm stuck being dead and I can't warn the others?
The silence did no hand in helping his increasingly panicked state
DAMN IT
...
*Whirrr...*
That same whirring sensation entered Gerald's mind once more
What does this even mean?
Gerald tried projecting his voice to the best of his ability
"Wh-o... AA-re you...?"
A silhouette emerged from the murky black space infront of Gerald, existing on a completely different level from him
"Are my words reaching you... or is this iteration, like the rest, destined for disregard?"
A warped but intense voice entered his mind from the very confines of this space... the voice was mature but sounded eerily like himself.
Gerald tried conveying his words once more, but found that it took immense strain to even grumble out a few incoherent sounds
"Y-Ye...s"
The silhouette stepped closer as it seemingly appraised Gerald up and down, it's murky black form impossibly imposing, forcing Gerald to avert his eyes
"You might be the convergence I require. In return, you are alloted two questions, utilize precision."
Seeing no other option other then being left in the dark, Gerald asks his first question
"W-Wh...."
And just like that, Gerald's voice shrills out. No longer able to speak.
"Is this it? The extent of your capabilities lie in the few words you dare utter before me?"
With palpable annoyance, the murky black figure snaps, and suddenly the atmosphere stops pressing down on Gerald, letting him speak normally
"What... What did you do to me..?"
"Is this the first of few impudent questions?"
"N-No, ahem..."
Gerald collects his bearings before asking his question again
"Who... Who are you?"
"Redundant, Deemed as unnecessary."
"One question remains."
Gerald couldn't help but gawk at the opposing figure
How shameless could somebody get?
First, he doesn't answer my question. And now he dares count that as one of the answers I have...
"That's not fair of you."
"Deal with it."
This little piece of shit.
"Fine, why can I remember the loops in this facility? Is there a reason I was put here in the first place?"
"Reduce the amount of questions in that statement, it exceeds the alloted amount"
...
"Why can I remember the loops."
"Partially through the abnormality known as #^$#@!%&#&. It was unintended at first as I was not ready to reactivate the protocol just yet."
"This is it's mess, not mine."
Gerald felt his head spinning, nothing made sense. He just had more questions.
"Hold on, which abnormality was it? I couldn't make out what you even said."
"Why should I repeat myself? Your queries have already been satiated."
"I just want you to tell me some concrete information, since I literally couldn't hear what you said."
"Maybe this will suffice."
"They are the very first one you have met in this cycle of rememberance."
Gerald churns his thoughts to try and remember even a single detail
Although it was a bit difficult, since for reasons unknown to himself, his thoughts were slower then normal and took some time to piece themselves together
One Sin? Was he the one who did this?
Gerald instinctively reached for his crown of thorns which were actually on his head, even in this murky black space
I guess they attached to my... soul..? Mind? Whatever the case, I guess I'm a bit thankful.
"Great, so what's next?"
"Nothing."
"What?"
"I hold no domain over when your astral projection will enter that disgusting shell you call a body once more."
"Leave me to my devices."
The silence ensued once more, a faint whirring sound continued to buzz in his mind
"Are you not going to leave?"
"Leave to where? You are occupying my space."
A faint bit of malice oozes out of his voice
"Coincidentally you also interfere with my work from the very notion of your voice entering my mind for even the fraction of a zeptosecond."
Wait... does this mean I can annoy him until he gives me more answers!?
Gerald mentally grins maliciously as he begins rubbing his hands together
"Don't you dare even dream about it."
-
(Pov: Manager)
"Motherfucker."
"Why the fuck do the damn cameras turn off when Gerald is in the room with an abnormality?"
"Angela!"
The white haired assistant steps into the office with documents in hand
"Yes, Manager?"
"Did you look into that camera problem I told you about earlier?"
Angela nods before placing the documents onto the table infront of the manager
"Energy reports have been declining for quite the long time now, random surges seem to be taking some of the appliances out of commission, this would include the cameras."
"Manager, have you updated the security system on your computer as of recently?"
"Hah, so your thinking that this is just some random virus?"
Angela frowned as she took back the documents
"No, I think that this was a targeted attack. Consider my words if you will."
with that, Angela walks out. the sound of her heels draw further and further away from the room
With the switch of a button, he calls Malkuth and Yesod in a joint call.
- [Connection Started]
(X) [Malkuth! What the hells going on in your department? I cant see into punishing bird's room!]
(M) [Oopsies! My apologies manager! I had been sorting out the less compliant employees, just like you've asked of me!]
(X) [When have I even asked you to do that?]
(Y) [Apologies for interrupting your conversation manager, but why have you contacted me aswell?]
(X) [That's actually because I wanted to check if punishing bird has any other special effects I haven't seen yet.]
(Y) [No manager, everything in the managerial document on the abnormality is everything you need to know.]
(M) [Yeah! What he said! What's gotten you so worked up anyways? Gerald is a competent employee and he gets the job done in a timely manner!]
(X) [I suppose you're right, but I just have a bad gut feeling about this whole turn of events.]
(Y) [Manager, if I may add. Only trust your rational thought for such important decision making that you are responsible for.]
(X) [...I guess, well whatever the case, malkuth I'd like you to check up on the state of affairs currently transpiring in punishing Bird's room.]
(M) [You got it Manager!]
- [Connection Terminated]
Sigh.
Once again, I really hope I'm being paranoid...
-
(Pov: Thomas)
Shit..
This should work for now
Thomas wraps his two amputated limbs in place where his legs should be
I'll just portray this as some sort of freak accident, but that stupid fucker just HAD to screw up all of my plans.
How the hells a cripple supposed to become captain of the control team
Much less even stay here without being sent back to the city?
...
Thomas involuntarily shivered in fear at the mention of going back to that forsaken place
I have to make the right moves from now on.
Punishing bird continued pecking it's beak in anger at Thomas, trying to injure him with all of its might
This stupid fucking bird!
Thomas had finally had enough, when he decided to shoot a bullet into the red 'Bullseye' in the middle of its body
The small bird hit the ground with a thud, before it's form began changing into that of a large bird comparable to that of an eagle, it's talons as large as kitchen knives
Thomas watched it transform in horror, the bird swooping in to take his pitiful life away from him
Just then the door had been kicked open, Lisa, Yuri and Mao all charge in with E.G.O gear in hand, Mao is the first one who runs infront of the attack and tries his best to deflect the attack with Penitence
His arm had been grabbed by the talon and he was thrown to the other side of the room
Lisa charged up her Horn E.G.O weapon and closes the pincers together right on Punishing Bird's right wing, making it screech
----..-....-.-.-----...-...----..-
-.-.-.-....-.....-------..-.
What...?
Thomas's head was spinning as the fight raged on, his ears dripping blood all over the ground
What the hell is happening..?
Thomas glanced over to Gerald's dead glazed over eyes, and fear crept into his heart.
I... I have to get out of here.
Thomas crawled his way over to the door, each stretch of his torn muscles agonizing
Yuri quickly glanced at Thomas before she grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room
Propping him onto a wall, she grabs a first aid kit from off of her back before popping it open to tend to the multitude of puncture wounds on his face and shoulders
"Thomas, good lord what happened in there!?"
Yuri bit her lip while brushing a bit of blood away from his face
"And why the hell is Gerald dead?"
Thomas ran through every excuse he had, but none of them made any sense, his heart pounding from the guilt of murder and disparity of death knocking right on the door next to him.
He could hear the ominous bell tolling for him, the grim reaper making it's way into the room to lay claim to his soul.
"F-Fuck T-That bird fuckin turned on us out of nowhere!"
"Gerald was just teaching me the ropes and it fucking killed him! I swear!"
At this point Thomas could barely hold himself back from crying, his body couldn't stop trembling at the fact he fucked up big time.
Yuri narrowed her eyes at him before sighing, she tightened his bandages, making Thomas let out a whimper at the pain before running back onto the fight
"We'll talk more about this later."
Thomas nodded to Yuri, letting her get out of view before he began crawling his way out of the hallway and into the armory
If I can just get into there...!
I can save myself...!
Thomas's eyes held a crazed expression, wanting nothing more then to get the fuck out of that cursed situation.
-
(Pov: Yuri)
Thomas wasn't fully telling the truth, I could tell
(?) Correct, I have already verified that information
(*) He was lookin pretty suspicious wasn't he? Almost like he was guilty.
(?) Correct, his facial features led me to believe that he was indeed partially responsible for the incident here.
I see, well we can't do much now except back up Lisa and Mao.
Yuri barged back into the room and witnessed to her horror that mao's weapon had been mangled beyond recognition and he was engaging in pure violence with the bird, Lisa on the other hand was wounded and bleeding out of her shoulder and bloodied hand, but she wielded her Horn E.G.O weapon all the same
"Fuck! Mao, get back!"
Yuri's perception slowed down as she aimed down the sights of her E.G.O weapon Today's Expression and shot 3 rounds into the Bird's central mass, the bullets had clung onto the bird while slowly expanding outwards, creating lumps of flesh which impeded the Bird's movement
The bird had fell to the ground in pain, flapping around with rage, it's stomach had finally opened up.
(?) Analyzing the chances of defeating the abnormality now are lower then 2%
(*) Shit, that's not a very high number is it?
(?) No, it is astronomically low.
(*) So what the hell are we supposed to do here?
(?) A wise decision would be to run.
Fuck that, I'm gonna save Lisa and Mao before anything.
(?) That is a very poor decision.
And I make very poor choices.
Yuri readies her E.G.O weapon, the face on the gun slowly begins turning angry as she charges a shot
The bird had no interest in her, instead it's stomachs all converged into Gerald's body, lifting him upwards his pale face had began twitching as soon as the Tendrils began pulsating red
His skin had began catching on fire as it adopted a red hue his eyes had completely lost their color, as a gutteral roar had escaped his mouth
(?) ...
(*) that thing...
(?) ...Yes it seems to have defiled Gerald's corpse even further.
Yuri's expression twisted into a rage similar to the undead Gerald's except this one was more passionate.
"DIEEE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
She shot the round which visibly warped he space around it, Black Tendrils crackling in the air as it whirred over to Punishing Bird's body
From the very moment it made contact, it ate through all of its flesh and went straight through to its skeleton, the bird had been glued to the wall due to its own superheated flesh
Yuri's eyes began to bleed but she didn't care all too much
(?) Your chances of success have just gone up to 5%
(*) The hell do you mean only 5%?
(?) The undead Gerald will begin attacking any moment.
As if right on que, Gerald had seemingly teleported over to her and roundhouse kicked her straight in the chest
...
(Pov: Mao)
Yuri had been kicked into kingdom come, her body ragdolling into the wall, some of her limbs bending into unique directions
Utilizing all of his strength, Mao had finally gathered the strength to pick himself off of the wall he had been leaning on
"Oi! You ugly piece of shit!"
Gerald's head snapped towards the noise, his body turning slowly as his arms extended themselves outwards, his elongated fangs dripping with saliva
With not even a fraction of a second later, Gerald lunges forward and slams into the wall behind Mao
With a swift kick, Mao had caved in Gerald's knee making him fall to the ground in agony
Mao chopped the back of Gerald's neck to knock him out only to realize that he isn't even conscious
Shit... stupid fucking habit.
Gerald claws upwards and peels the E.G.O suit off like butter, Being flung upwards into the air, Mao was defenseless to do anything
By the time he was midway down, Gerald had winded his arm backwards fully intending on punching a hole through his chest
*Whoosh*
He had stopped mere inches away from fully committing into the blow, Mao finally dropped from out of the air and hit the ground with a thud
"Uugh..."
Mao couldn't even move, he didn't feel anything in his limbs anymore
Blood trickled out of his mouth slowly
Glancing at Lisa, he saw her face first on the ground, seemingly speed blitzed before she could even see what had happened
Darkness had threatened to consume him whole
...
And he let it do as it pleased.
.
.
.
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