-But the curse continues, never removed.

Y/N: ...

Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked at my room while letting out some groans that many would not associate to a person, blame my sleepiness for that. Without a single word said, I prepared myself for the next day of work and opened the door leading back inside the facility, ready to face the day with a light smile.

Alter Ego: Oh hey Y/N.

As soon as I stepped outside, a voice that I recognized called my name. I looked to my right and observed Alter Ego waving at me, Malkuth beside her as well for some reason.

Y/N: Hey girls... *Yawn* How's it going?

Malkuth: I'm fine, thank you for asking.

She revealed a bright smile on her face in return and gave me a tap on the back before running in the direction the office. After a few seconds passing by, Alter Ego turned her head to face me and gave me her own "good morning" via a small smile, not as overwhelming as Malkuth's.

Alter Ego: You look pretty tired, how many hours did you slept?

Y/N: ...

I did not answer her question. Instead, my eyes slowly averted from her and focused on the wall next to us.

Alter Ego: Come on.

Not oblivious to my hesitation, she leaned a little closer. The way she acted reminded me of a mother scolding her child for doing something bad. It left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. I let out a small sigh and answered.

Y/N: 30 minutes.

Alter Ego: You need to rest after the shift.

Y/N: I don't need it... I'm fine.

I shrugged in return, putting an end to our conversation. Once this discussion out of the way, the both of us walked side by side in direction of the Control department, ready to begin our second day. This energy only grew stronger after arriving at out destination..

Alter Ego: ...

Y/N: Alright, time to make the control team proud!

Everyone: Let's do this!

Seems like everyone had the same energy I had.

With motivation in their steps, the office workers all ran to their assigned post and began to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. As for us, we simply sat down on our seats and waited until our assistance was needed.

Thankfully, the wait was definitely not something we had to worry about, at least not enough for us to die of boredom. An alert soon snapped us out of our daze, indicating that we had a job to do. We quietly followed the instructions given to us and made our way to a closed door with what looked like to be a code above it.

F-02-44.

Y/N: I'm going first I suppose?

I asked the girl standing next to me, who simply shook her head.

Alter Ego: I'm going first this time.

She opened the door and walked into the containment room on her own, leaving me dazzled for an instant. Not wanting to leave her alone, I hurriedly made my way inside and saw her staring at... something?

Y/N: That's...

Alter Ego: Horrible to see. What were we supposed to do?

She glanced back in my direction as a way to not scar her eyes more than she needs to. It was something I perfectly understood, it definitely was a completely 180 compared to the floating skull we took care of yesterday.

Y/N: Suppression I think.

I checked the instructions for a confirmation of my statement. Soon enough, my guess was found to be correct.

My stare remained fixed on the creature as I took out my riot stick and walked closer to the abnormality before poking it. It silently looked back at me with its many eyes, expecting me to do something already.

Y/N: Don't give me that look.

I raised my weapon and smacked that creature with it in the face with a light swing. The head followed the movement of the baton and a red mark made its presence known on the left side of it's head, a mark of my act of violence. After letting the initial shock dissipate, I swung my arm once more and kept hitting it until I was out of breath.

With each attack, I could feel guilt welling up in my chest. It felt like I was hitting a poor animal, making the experience even worse than it already is.

Y/N: ...

Alter Ego: ...I think we're good for now.

She silently wrote down notes on the experiment a slightly pained expression until visible signs of exhaustion emerged in my movements, stopping me with a solemn voice. Also willing to stop, we made our way to the door. I gave one last look at the... I dunno what to call it honestly. It was pretty bruised but not enough to die. We both walked out and noticed that the designation number was replaced with a name.

Beauty and the beast.

Y/N: Is it the beast or the beauty?

I mumbled out of curiosity, something that the girl next to me did not ignore.

Alter Ego: No idea. There was some lipstick around its lips but it definitely was no beauty...

We returned to the main room and soon enough, Alter Ego was called to go work with One Bro, something that will definitely help her change her mind after seeing what we both saw. Now on my own, I quietly whistled to myself as a way to pass time. Sadly, there's not much more in terms of entertainment here.

Y/N's mind: This place needs a music band in my opinion but I'm not interested to be the singer if it happens.

*Beep*

I moved my focus back to the screen next to me the moment my focus was lost. allowing me to see my name appearing on it along with the beast's containment room next to it, assigning me to cleaning duty.

Y/N: What, cleaning duty?!

I rolled my eyes and took the required objects with me before slowly walking back inside the room. Inside, the creature giving me a headache when I tried to find a good way to describe it greeted me with its pitiful face.

Y/N: Let's get this over with.

I dipped a brush in a bucket of water and started brushing off some dirt on the abnormality, feeling the fur touch my hand like worms squirming around. Its many eyes were fixated on me during the whole process, sending shivers down my spine. I was really unsure about what to do but I kept doing what I was asked. I knew what would happen if I didn't anyway, just like everyone here.

Y/N: There and there... Here you go, all clean.

I casually spoke to the monstrosity as I moved on to the next spot, wasting the little energy I had for the day. I could feel my eyelids becoming heavier and heavier as my body became used to the motions until I couldn't fight back. Deciding to use that small opportunity to get some rest to compensate for my mere 30 minutes of rest, I closed my eyes, leaving my body on autopilot.

...Soon after, I fell asleep on the monster I was supposed to take care of, not that it really surprised me in hindsight.

...

...

...

Y/N: Huh?

I snapped back to reality and looked around, quickly realizing that I was still in the containment room. I quietly raised my head and looked behind me to see the creature sleeping next to me. In an attempt to not make my escape known, I carefully stood back up and took my stuff before exiting the room. I waited that the door closed before looking at the time.

Y/N: Wait, I slept for 4 hours?!

I ran back to my departement to see that the secong shift was already there. The workers all looked back at me with confused expressions.

Worker: Is there a problem?

Y/N: I slept in a containment room for 4 hours!

They all looked at each other, clearly not understanding why it was such a bad situation, some showing a lack of care.

Y/N: I could've died back there!

Worker: Who gives a shit anyway, we lose around 56 employees each day so 1 more or 1 less won't make much of a difference.

Malkuth: Hey, isn't that my favorite employee!

Suddenly, like a ghost appearing out of thin, the girl known as my superior made her way to me and stopping right in front of path.

Y/N: Favorite employee? I've been here for 2 days-

Malkuth: Exactly! Most of the people joining this team don't even survive their first day. Keep up the good work and I can tell that we will go far together!

A bead of sweat fell down my face as I gave her a small smile to not upset her, which did not hold even a sliver of the energy Malkuth's had. Fortunately, eyes moved to another point of interest, looking proud of herself for supporting me.

Y/N: ...I'm going to bed, I need a break.

I whispered to myself and left the departement in a hurry, not wanting to spend a second longer somewhere that wasn't my room.

Alter Ego: Y/N!

Y/N: Y-Yes?

Still shaken up by the information Malkuth slipped, whether intentionally or not, I stuttered in my word as I looked at the girl approaching.

Alter Ego: I was worried about you, I thought that you were a goner in there!

Y/N: Why didn't you help me?!

Alter Ego: Because...

She looked around with a certain worry in her face before leaning forward to whisper in my ear.

Alter Ego: Angela stopped me, she said that I would be fired if I interfered with what was going on and we all know what it means to be "fired".

Y/N: What was she thinking?!

I softly exclaimed my shock back. Sadly, she had no answer to my question, just a shrug.

Alter Ego: Please be careful around her, something doesn't feel right. By the way, nice hairpin.

Y/N: Hairpin?

I checked the top of my head and noticed that there was indeed something in my hair, something that felt like a flower. With her warning said, Alter Ego walked back into her room and I did the same but before I could close the door, something blocked the door from fully closing.

I looked down and the only thing I could see was a red high heel along with the leg of someone blocking the door. Soon after, a hand slipped through and opened the door, revealing the person on the other side.

Y/N: H-Hi Angela.

Using my small moment of surprise to her advantage, the woman stepped inside.

Angela: Y/N, I am here for the conversation we had yesterday.

Her closed eyes and her calm expression was fixated on me, making the air around us rather tense.

Y/N: Actually, I have a question.

Angela: Go ahead.

Y/N: Why did you leave me in that room?

A moment of silence persisted until a response came out of her mouth.

Angela: It isn't my duty to manage everything that happens inside this facility. Yes, I can freely move around but it doesn't make me an omnipotent being.

Y/N: Aren't you the Manager's assistant, isn't it your job to tell him about that kind of stuff?

She calmly looked at me with that collected face of hers before revealing a smile.

Angela: Yes, I am an AI designed to assist the Manager. However, it should be up to them to-

Y/N: ...Just get to the point, I still need to go to sleep. Also, didn't you tell me to forget about what happened in our previous talk?

Angela: Yes, I do remember saying that but I finally gathered the information I needed to continue.

Y/N: Whatever, just do it quickly.

I let out a small yawn to show her to hurry up.

Angela: I will go straight to the point.

She approached her face closer to mine, forcing me to step away in order to keep my focus on her.

Y/N: Haven't you heard of private space?

Angela: Do not worry, I am aware of such thing.

One of her heels held the door open, making the light behind her cast her shadow on the ground in front of me.

Angela: Now...

She walked further into the room, finally allowing it to close behind her before locking it. A drop of sweat formed on my forehead as I tried to think of an excuse to get out of this situation, fearing that I might get shot in the head right here in this room.

Y/N: Angela, shouldn't you be checking on the Manager?

Angela: I won't take too much time here anyway.

She stepped even closer and I ended up in a corner without realizing, afraid of what would happen if she reached me.

Angela: Do not be alarmed, you wouldn't want to disturb the people around.

Her words also definitely didn't help the situation.

As I walked around the room, I made sure to keep my distance from and keep my eyes on her. After a while, she faked a sigh before making a long step in my direction, stopping me in my track and allowing her to grab my uniform.

Angela: Now that I have your attention.

Y/N: Y-Yes?

Fully expecting to feel a bullet in my head or something like that, I froze in place. However, instead, she gave me a box and stepped away. Confused, I looked back at her as she explained.

Angela: The manager told me to give this to you and your friend. After today, you will receive those packages from your designated Sephirah.

Oh... I guess she wanted to give me this

Y/N's mind: I guess I was being too paranoid.

Angela: ...

I raised my head from the gift and saw her walk in the direction of the door. She silently opened it and turned around to give me one last look. Still shocked by the events that just occured, my eyes remained locked on her figure.

Angela: Please fix your sleeping schedule.

Y/N: Why is everyone picking on me about that?

I dropped my shoulders in response and watched her finally leave. Now on my own, the first thing I did was place the box given to me on my desk. The moment it left my hands, I jumped on top of my bed and passed out, done with the day I went through.