"I knew it from the moment you stepped into this room. You're longing for something."
The defeated man stared at A, who was busy directing work, pitying him like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand.
"This is a story about two doors..."
He didn't care if A responded, simply continuing his tale.
That experiment had shattered Carmen's confidence—the radical experiment in which she was meant to be the subject. Everyone on the team believed she shouldn't do it herself.
In the end, Enoch—the child they had brought back from the outskirts, who often contemplated the meaning of his own existence and possessed a maturity far beyond his years—volunteered to take Carmen's place.
Carmen spent a long time considering Enoch's request. Finally, under pressure from all sides, she approved it.
But the result of this rushed experiment was nothing more than Enoch's cold, lifeless body on the operating table.
The child's death dealt a severe blow to Carmen's self-confidence. The weight of everyone's expectations pushed her, little by little, to the brink of collapse.
Lisa, who was now the Central Command Team Sephirah, Tiphereth—Enoch's adoptive sister, who was closer to him than any biological sibling—blamed Carmen for her brother's death, seeing her as a murderer.
Heartbroken, she hurled vicious words at Carmen, wishing she would "just go and die." Though it was just the outburst of a grieving little girl, her tears and accusations shattered the last, fragile piece of Carmen's heart...
"No matter how loud I screamed, there was no reply... Only the sound of running water filled the air."
The defeated man continued, and the memories of that day, long forgotten by A, rushed forth, making it impossible for him to focus on the screen that had been his companion for 48 days.
"Like a madman, I pulled open the closed door. But I wish that door had never opened..."
"Behind it, her eyes were shut tight."
"But feelings like guilt are meaningless, so I forced myself toward the bathtub, stained blood-red..."
At some point, tears had begun streaming down the faces of both A and the man. The defeated man, Abram, choked back a sob as he continued, "Even though her consciousness was gone, though she was covered in blood... she was still alive. She was still alive! But in the end, we chose to violate her body with our own hands and bury her deep beneath the earth..."
The breakdown struck them both like lightning. A and Abram could no longer tell who was speaking. Their eyes saw only each other as they spoke in unison of their shared despair and sin. All work for the day was abandoned, left entirely to the employees of the facility.
"Warning to all personnel. Qliphoth Meltdown, Level 4."
Angela's announcement was, as always, devoid of any emotion, as cold as her mechanical identity.
The harm-response system briefly returned to normal. Employees and Sephirah alike breathed a sigh of relief—all except Ye Lan. A false Geburah appeared in the upper corridor of the Disciplinary Team, instantly obliterating the two Fixer spawns from the Pale Noon ordeal.
Just as the false Geburah manifested its E.G.O. armor and prepared to kill the surrounding employees, Ye Lan, already prepared, appeared between them. He blocked the fake's attack with the scepter-like weapon of Paradise Lost.
"All employees with E.G.O. gear below Class WAW, leave now! Even if it's a fake, that's still the legendary 'Red Mist.'"
Ye Lan's timely arrival saved the outmatched employee, who didn't even have time for thanks before scrambling to find a path to the nearest elevator amidst the destruction caused by the clash.
"Go get 'em, star employee! Kick that fake's ass! Dammit, why can't I get a hand free to join you!" Geburah's voice blared from the nearby speakers, her disgust for the phantom mimicking her own meltdown state palpable.
The apple at the tip of Ye Lan's scepter glowed with red light; Paradise Lost was ready to unleash its special attack. Seizing an opening as the fake shifted forms, Ye Lan swung, releasing a wave of dark energy. A golden shield simultaneously erupted from his body. That shield, combined with an anti-corruption shield fired by a struggling A, blocked the attack from the fake's Mimicry weapon.
***
"All that's left for you and me... is atonement..."
Abram clutched at A's pant leg, trying to drag him back down to the floor, to drown with him in self-loathing and denial.
"The efforts we made, the sacrifices, the results we obtained—all of it had value and meaning. I will not deny it. I will always yearn for a reason to exist."
Drawing strength from his memories of Tiphereth, A kicked away Abram, who was trying to pull him down.
"No matter what you yearn for, you'll always end up back at the beginning! No matter how pretty your words are, photosynthesis is for plants, not for people like us! Shouldn't you have known that already?! We were the ones who pushed Carmen to her death, step by step!" Abram, thrown to the ground, screamed at A, attacking him with Carmen's death.
"She entrusted everything to me, because she believed I had the resolve to protect it all!"
More memories awakened, bringing A even greater strength. Geburah's own confession had taught him the weight of true resolve.
The pistol in his hand, capable of firing bullets that traversed space, sang out again and again. Pale Damage Shield, White Damage Shield, Black Damage Shield, Red Damage Shield... He fired every single support bullet he had, nullifying the false Geburah's attacks against Ye Lan one after another.
"We aren't what Carmen thought we were! The only person who trusted us is gone, there's no one left! Why are you so determined?!"
"Because everyone came here for my sake. They are all waiting for me. I will not betray their trust!"
The last shield protecting Ye Lan shattered under the fake's assault. But at the same time, Ye Lan, having endured the shield-piercing blow, delivered his final strike.
With that heavy blow, the challenge of Day 48 was declared complete.
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