Y/N: ....

Watching me give her a sad look, Tiphereth started scraping the floor with her long arms, trying to reach for my hand. It must have been one that she obtained before, one that I used to support her through the hardships of this place, only to leave her falling inside the bottomless pit of misery that this corporation is.

*Beep*

An assignment arrived but I didn't even glance at it, keeping my eyes on the Sephirah in front of me.

Tiphereth: Please... Y/N...

Y/N: ...

Obviously, the best decision would be to accept her hand, to tell her that everything would be alright but it was a lie, I knew that it wouldn't solve anything. This facility was cursed and if my memories were indeed manipulated, I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I would be with her.

Y/N: I'm sorry Tiphereth.

I turned around and left after taking a look at my assignment, Queen of Hatred. I left for the stairs and pretended to ignore the pleadings coming from the little girl who cried many times alone, waiting for me to come back.

...It was painful, a decision that I didn't want to take but was necessary in the end.

???: Hey Y/N.

Y/N: ?

I turned to my left and saw Daniel approaching me, greeting me with a calm smile. I did the same and waved at him, pretending that it was a normal day like any others. He then grabbed the top of his head with his left hand before looking at the intercom with annoyance.

Daniel: They should seriously turn that thing off, I feel like I'm gonna go insane at this rate.

Y/N: Really? I think that's some good music, even if it's not really the best time right now

Daniel: So, you going somewhere?

Y/N: Queen of Hatred, the usual.

Daniel: Yes, she got a lot more grumpier ever since you stopped visiting her, hard to collect any energy from her when she doesn't want to cooperate.

Y/N: I'll see what I can do.

Daniel: Good luck, you'll need it.

He gave me a tap on the back and walked past me, probably going to go work with something else. Gathering my hopes, I entered the containment room and saw the magical girl sulking in the corner of the room, looking down at the floor.

QoH: ...

Y/N: ...

The door now closed behind me, I checked a bag that was resting beside the door leading in her room with a sign saying "entertainment" above it.

Y/N's mind: Toys? What am I supposed to do with that?

Soon, I found a magic staff like the one she was carrying around and I decided to take it with me for this time. Approaching the girl who didn't seem to know that I was there, I called her name.

Y/N: Hey Magical girl, you don't seem to be in a good-

QoH: I'm fine!

She stopped me and jumped on her feet once my voice reached her, a wide smile of her face. The sudden shift of mood surprised me for a moment but it was soon chased away when she reached for my suit, Red's E.G.O. suit.

QoH: Why would I not be in a good mood? A Magical always have to smile in order to reassure people, that's what justice is!

Y/N: I'm not sure that I follow that...

Her hands grabbing the collar of my outfit, her large eyes obvserved me like I was a simple mirror, sending a few shivers in the back of my head. Slowly pushin gher off of me, I regained my composure and apologized for my disappearance.

Y/N: I was busy with some other works.

QoH: It's fine, I understand but you could have told me!

She pouted while crossing her arms, not pleased with my answer. This sight managed to get a slight chuckle out of my mouth, which caused Queen of Hatred to blush a little in response to that laugh.

Y/N: I'm just here to make sure you're fine, seems like you are in my eyes.

QoH: Of course I am, you're here after all! I'm always happy when you're with me!

Y/N: ...Was that a confession?

I asked her with a sly tone, a smile perking at the corner of my lips. Her eyes widened when she realized that it sounded like one and hid her face with her gloved hands.

QoH: I-I-It's not that!!!

Y/N's mind: With that kind of expression, I can ALMOST forget that she can turn into a giant snake capable of shooting lasers.

Keeping my smile on my face, I watched her slowly turning into a stuttering mess that it would put a malfunctioning engine to shame. Soon, the intercom warned me that my work was over with a total of 18 PE boxes extracted.

Y/N: Well, I have to go, see you later-

QoH: Huh?! No, you can't leave!

She rushed to the door and blocked the exit with her body, arms raised in the air, frowning at me. Unable to leave, I sighed, knowing that it would happen if I tried to leave.

Y/N: Unfortunately, I can't stick around for too long, Angela might get on my case if I don't do my job.

Knowing what she did, she definitely would.

QoH: You're just gonna abandon me again, I don't want that! We're partners right? We have to stay together!

Y/N: ...

There was no point arguing with her, she wouldn't even listen even if I tried. Dropping my shoulders, I gave up and approached her, carefully, placing my right hand on her left shoulder.

Y/N: I understand that but I'm not a hero of justice 24/7, I still have to work too.

QoH: What do you mean? Being a hero IS a work!

Y/N: ...A work that doesn't pay you, that's what it is.

QoH: Seeing the face of everyone supporting you to vanquish evil, it's the best reward you can have as a hero!

Y/N: Alright then, you wouldn't mind if I cheer for you... from a large distance?

Trying to come with a compromise, I gave her a patient gaze, my left index pointing at the ceiling in a way that a parent would lecture a child, which wouldn't be inaccurate in this current situation.

QoH: No!

Y/N: *Sigh* I tried.

Shrugging at the same time, I noticed one of those robots with sharp arms getting mauled by the employees of the Security team before returning to their activities. At the same time, the alarm stopped, only to be replaced with a sad melody that I could guess where it was coming from.

https://youtu.be/_nyevIpVU9E

Y/N: ...

QoH: What is that music?

Those organs echoing that song across the whole facility easily, I could only think of the Sephirah currently having a mental breakdown downstairs, she must be the source of it.

Y/N: Look, I should get another assignment soon. If you really want me to stay with you longer then just follow me, I can't afford to stay here too long.

QoH: Fine...

She mumbled under her breath, displeased with the decision I took. Not caring much about it, I insisted to leave and she followed me outside of her containment area. Letting an abnormality leave so easily was DEFINITELY a violation of many protocols but there wasn't much I could do about it.

QoH: Where are we going now?

She asked with a cheerful tone, levitating above the ground on her magic staff while giving me her neutral smile. Not knowing myself, I went to the main room of the Security team and saw a couple of employees doing their business.

Alter Ego: Oh Y/N!

Noticing my arrival, she jumped off her seat and ran to greet me, only to get pushed away by Queen of Hatred with hostility.

QoH: We're not here for a chat, we have an important work to do.

Alter Ego: E-Eh? Q-Queen of hatred, why are you out of your room?!

QoH: A hero of justice can never rest, I have to pursue evil and defeat it with my proud ally!

Y/N: She threw a tantrum so I'm being escorted by her.

Alter Ego: Oh...

Her smile dropped rapidly, her happiness sapped away when she realized that she wouldn't be able to even talk to me for the rest of the day because of her. Her head lowering to stare at the floor, she turned around and walked away.

Y/N: You didn't have to push her away.

QoH: She wouldn't let go of you otherwise, she may be a spy of our enemy!

Y/N: She's important to me so I would appreciate if you kept your hands to yourself.

Standing my grounds, I gave her a glare. Realizing that I wasn't joking, she nodded and went back to her happy-go-lucky attitude, convinced that we were close to the lair of the enemy hidden in this corporation.

QoH: It may even be the root of all evil on this planet, can you imagine that Y/N?

Y/N: ...Hm, cleaning duty with Army in Black.

QoH: Were you even listening?!

Y/N: Sorry, I received my new assignment, we should hurry.

QoH: Hey, pay attention next time, we have to stay vigilant you know!

Y/N: I already apologized, what else do you want from me?

QoH: ...

Not answering my question, she remained silent and I heaved a sigh in response. Leaving the room, I began making my way to Army in Black's containment room and before entering, I heard in the distance some voices screaming to prepare themselves.

Y/N's mind: What are they doing?

Deciding to ignore it, I entered and saw the giant pink heart floating in the air, saluting me. Placing the cleaning equipement on the floor, I took the mop and dipped it in the water before starting my task.

QoH: I don't like this, it's clearly evil!

Y/N: Calm down, at least it's not trying to kill us in the containment room unlike others.

Reminiscing of that time when that abomination charged at me outside of the containment room before killing everyone in the facility caused my shivers to come back, fearing a repeat of that.

Y/N: Plus, it looks rather calm AND it's a Zayin, we don't have to worry about it.

QoH: Zayin?

Y/N: It's the lowest classification for an abnormality, safe most of the time... even though Plague doctor is one of them.

Thinking of that crow which kept changing its appearance worried me for some reason, I can't seem to trust it no matter how hard I try and I had plenty of reasons for that. For some reason, it looked ominous to me.

Intercom: 29 PE boxes successfully produced.

Y/N: Looks like our job is done.

Grabbing my stuff, I left the room slowly and the magical girl followed my footsteps in silence, her arms crossed with a frown aimed at the back of my skull.

Y/N: ...What?

QoH: You-

???: Everyone, we have a breach!

In the distance, an employee's voice could be heard, making me drop everything before rushing with my weapons, Queen of Hatred ready for some action as well.

Y/N: What's going on?

One of the workers was looking through the cameras and I peeked over his shoulder, seeing a black fish roaming in one of the corridors of the Welfare department.

Worker: Yin escaped 2 minutes ago, we're still waiting for the suppression team to arrive and-

Y/N: What's that?

I pointed in the corner of the camera and saw a large machine in the middle of the hallway. With only a single glance, I could tell that it was something bad.

Worker: I... don't know, we have to warn the facility.

He ran to the emergency line and began contacting the other departments, telling them that we were getting invaded by unknown machines. Meanwhile, I observed it and saw it open a lid on the side and from it, small robots with sharp arms and ones with a chainsaw as one arm and a machine gun with the other emerged from inside.

Y/N: We got more of them, call everyone that can fight, this is serious!

Worker: More of them appeared inside the facility! A total of 4 and they're currently invading the rest of the facility!

QoH: Sounds like a job for Magical girl and her assistant!

Y/N: We have to hurry!