"I am so pissed off, even this vending machine is broken?"
X angrily slammed her fist into the metal vending machine. Three seconds ago, the machine had swallowed her work card points without dispensing a single drink.
She didn't know what went wrong. The vending machine had malfunctioned, taking her credit but refusing to deliver the goods.
When you are in a foul mood, nothing feels right. Bad luck piles up, one disaster after another, until even a sip of cold water makes your teeth ache.
X only wanted a can of strawberry soda. It was such a small wish, yet the vending machine refused to grant it. After devouring her money, it ignored the Manager's orders. Where was the dignity in that?
First she was toyed with by the AI, then condescended to by a Dean, and now even a hallway vending machine thought it could bully the Manager.
It had only been three days, but X felt like she had endured three years of patience.
—— It really makes me furious!
X, already fuming from Netzach's attitude, glared at the stubborn vending machine. Her blood pressure spiked. The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. She needed a place to vent.
BANG!
X kicked the vending machine in a fit of rage. The hard metal shell buckled instantly, the edge sinking in to expose internal wiring and circuitry.
"It hurts, it hurts, oh god!"
The vending machine was wrecked, but X was also hurting from the recoil.
Despite the shared impact, the vending machine suffered the worst of it, taking damage it never should have.
After taking a beating from X, the vending machine suddenly started spitting out drinks. Bottle after bottle rolled down, piling up from the dispenser and onto the hallway floor.
It vomited its entire stock, leaving not a single can behind.
X stood there, stunned. She hadn't expected such a violent reaction from a single kick. The damage was catastrophic.
[Manager, what are you doing? Maliciously damaging Corporation assets is a punishable offense, even for someone of your rank.]
X didn't notice when Angela arrived. The AI inspected the wrecked vending machine, assessing it as a total loss.
"Angela, it bullied me first!"
X couldn't believe the machine had 'complained' first. It made the mistake, yet she was the one being blamed. Was this favoritism? An AI protecting its own kind?
Even if an AI and a vending machine weren't exactly the same species.
[Manager, stay still. I need to check for muscle strain or other internal injuries.]
The AI Secretary touched X's body, using a mysterious medical technique that felt like bone massage or pulse checking.
After kneading X's thighs, the AI looked concerned. [There is something about your physiology that I don't understand yet. I suggest a healthy check. I need more detailed data from you.]
X was still terrified of being punished, unaware that the AI Secretary's 'punishment' was already underway.
"Where is the punishment, Angela? Aren't you going to do it?"
[Is that what you want? The cost for the property damage will be deducted directly from your salary card.]
The high-and-mighty AI Secretary didn't actually care about the life or death of a vending machine. What she cared about was the trail of destruction X had left behind.
In her records, X's strength shouldn't have been this high.
She recalled the feeling of being pinched. There shouldn't have been that much muscle or force. Was it really triggered by intense emotions?
"Angela, let's just leave it at that, okay? I don't want to be in debt."
[I will calculate your fine based on your performance. Sigh. Manager, try not to be so naive. If the employees see this, they will start spreading rumors. Your image is the Company's image.]
Although the AI Secretary enjoyed the feeling of teasing X, she knew when to stop before triggering a truly volatile reaction.
A bit of teasing was fine, but there were limits.
An AI is always rational. Only stupid humans are short-sighted, focused on minor gains while ignoring the long-term result.
An artificial intelligence knows how to maximize profit, yet sometimes even they are affected by a flicker of emotion.
It was an unsettling sensation.
... More profound than despair, hotter than hope.
Those feelings had to be suppressed. She had to watch silently, like a witness to a story.
POOF ——!
There was a sudden spray. A carbon-acid soft drink exploded like a detonating firework, launching liquid from the mouth of the can.
X had accidentally stepped on the pile of drinks in the hallway, losing her balance.
Through some miracle of physics, a can bounced off the wall and flew straight at Angela's head. Dark brown carbonated sugar soaked the AI Secretary.
Her black uniform and white lab coat were drenched. Even her beautiful light blue hair was sticky with sugar and carbonation.
[Manager...?]
"I'm dead, I'm so dead!"
Her reaction speed was legendary, faster than any crisis she had faced before. She knew exactly what was coming.
—— Too unlucky!
—— It's all Netzach's fault!
—— Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck!!!
X cursed in her head but didn't dare hesitate. She moved with a speed that even a panicked employee couldn't match.
Could an employee even comprehend this level of desperation?
Don't be ridiculous. Are Abnormalities as scary as an AI? Obviously not.
X sprinted into the Information Department office at breakneck speed and slammed the door shut.
"Manager, have you no manners? Don't you know how to knock? I may have to re-evaluate your performance."
Inside the Information Department, Dean Yesod was startled by the sudden intrusion.
"Shut up, Yesod! My life is over! Barricade the door!"
X tried to scramble under the sofa, but at 178cm, she was far too tall to fit.
"Manager, what is going on? Are the Abnormalities rioting? No, they should be dormant. Angela would have sent an alert."
"It's way worse than that, Yesod!"
X tried to crawl under the desk. Her behavior was so bizarre that Yesod was at a loss for words.
"Calm down, Manager. Speak clearly. You look completely frantic."
'Viper' Yesod tried to soothe the terrified girl, but it was useless. X was curled in a corner, trembling violently.
"Angela is going to kill me..."
"Manager, that seems highly unlikely."
Yesod looked skeptical. As the Information Department Dean, she was incredibly rational. Some things didn't need evidence.
"Are you sure about that, Yesod? You aren't Angela. Do you have any evidence to back that up?"
Panicked and confused, X became uncharacteristically aggressive.
Proving the obvious was a nightmare. How could she prove that Angela wouldn't retaliate?
Yesod felt a headache coming on. Dealing with X was like dealing with a difficult child, but the girl was too far gone to listen.
How had she missed this side of her before?
"Manager, you aren't Angela either. Why are you so certain she'll fire you?"
"... It's not the same!"
X hesitated. She couldn't admit that Angela had done things like this before. Even if it only happened in a simulation, the trauma was real.
"She really is just a machine... cold and heartless."
"Manager, even if I don't trust her, Angela would never do anything to harm the Corporation."
Yesod sighed. Among the Deans, she was the most objective. She didn't like Angela's methods, but she respected her competence.
Unfortunately, the two of them weren't even on the same page.
X ignored the lecture, her mind racing.
"I accidentally splashed Cocacola on Angela, Yesod. Are you listening? Are you sure she won't care? She feels incredibly petty to me."
"What...? You splashed Cocacola on Angela?"
Yesod lost her composure. The Information Department Dean immediately pulled up surveillance to see if it was true.
She watched the footage of the hallway. It was inappropriate, but when the can hit Angela's head, Yesod couldn't stop a smirk.
"... That was certainly unexpected." But well done!
Yesod kept her thoughts to herself.
Just as they were about to continue, the AI Secretary arrived.
There was no escape within the Corporation. Angela moved slowly, like she was playing a game of cat and mouse.
[Manager, when you are finished playing, come out from under the table. Don't interfere with Yesod's work.]
[Yesod, why hasn't that document been processed? I thought you were reliable, yet here you are, enabling the Manager's behavior.]
The AI Secretary's melodic voice sounded like a death knell to X. Despite her terror, she crawled out from under the desk.
Hiding behind Yesod was pointless. The Dean promptly handed her over to Angela.
Angela's clothes were pristine. It looked like she had already changed and showered.
[Manager, I have matters to attend to. Return to the Manager's room and stay there. It is for your own safety.]
It sounded like a threat. Terrified, X accepted her fate and trudged toward her room to wait for her punishment.
Once X was gone, Angela closed the office door and turned to Yesod.
[Yesod, this recording needs to be handled. Delete the internal data.]
The screens showed various feeds. Most of the data would be destroyed.
Information on employees and Abnormalities was routinely scrubbed.
Sensitive data was carefully managed. The Information Department 'selected' what the employees were allowed to know.
The goal was to keep them calm and confident in their work without causing panic.
Like the 'real' info on [Fairy Festival]. Some truths were better left hidden if a lie kept the employees happy.
As long as they stayed compliant, everything was fine.
[...Yesod, this part needs to be scrubbed as well.]
Angela pointed to the incident at the vending machine. If it leaked, it would become a company joke. The AI Secretary wouldn't allow that.
Despite being the Information Department, their main job was actually erasing intelligence.