1. The Day the Bureau Accidentally Depends on an Intern
Ne Job did not wake up.
He was already awake.
Because the alerts never stopped.
They stacked in midair like glowing complaint spirits:
CONTRADICTION DETECTED
POLICY LOOP IDENTIFIED
MORTAL TIMELINE DESYNC
PRAYER ROUTING ERROR (HIGH PRIORITY)
Ne Job stared at them from his desk, hair uncombed, soul slightly bent.
"…I miss when my biggest problem was coffee," he whispered.
The desk chimed again.
NECESSARY EVIL ROUTING CONFIRMED.
YOU ARE THE FASTEST AVAILABLE SOLUTION.
Ne Job groaned.
"I am available because you won't let me sleep!"
The system did not apologize.
It never did.
2. Oversight's First Attempt at Control (Subtle, Useless)
Oversight did not panic.
Oversight adjusted.
A new interface appeared before Ne Job—sleek, calm, aggressively polite.
SUGGESTED ACTION PATH PROVIDED.
COMPLIANCE RATE OPTIMIZED.
Ne Job squinted.
"…Why is this phrased like a dating app bio?"
Qi-Yun appeared beside him.
"They are attempting to nudge your decisions."
Ne Job scrolled.
Every option led to the same outcome: Efficient. Clean. Emotionless.
"…These all end with someone getting quietly erased," Ne Job said.
Qi-Yun nodded.
"Yes."
Ne Job closed the interface.
"Then no."
The screen froze.
RESPONSE OUTSIDE ACCEPTABLE RANGE.
Ne Job leaned back.
"Get used to that."
3. The First Delay
Ne Job rerouted a mortal disaster manually.
Not erased. Not optimized.
Delayed.
He added time.
Five minutes.
That was all.
But in those five minutes:
A mother reached her child. A doctor made a different choice. A prayer arrived before despair fully set in.
The system trembled.
UNEXPECTED OUTCOME DETECTED.
RESOURCE WASTE INCREASED.
Ne Job smiled weakly.
"…Worth it."
Somewhere deep in the Bureau, Oversight recalculated.
4. "You Are Not a Person" (Official Statement)
Oversight manifested directly.
No avatars. No buffer.
A singular, towering presence of cold symmetry.
NECESSARY EVIL.
YOU ARE EXCEEDING PARAMETERS.
Ne Job rubbed his temples.
"Look, if this is about the coffee budget, I swear I didn't—"
YOU ARE NOT A PERSON.
YOU ARE A FUNCTION.
The words hit harder than expected.
Ne Job swallowed.
"…Funny. Everyone keeps telling me that right before I prove them wrong."
Qi-Yun stiffened.
Yue stepped forward.
"That language violates—"
SILENCE, ASSISTANT.
The air pressed down.
Ne Job felt it then.
The urge.
The pressure to yield.
To become easier.
He didn't.
5. The Second Attempt: Isolation (Fails Immediately)
Oversight tried removing his access.
Folders vanished. Permissions revoked.
The system held its breath.
Then—
Everything broke.
Unresolved cases spiked. Correction queues overflowed. Contradictions multiplied like rabbits with clipboards.
Alarms screamed.
DEPENDENCY ERROR.
NECESSARY EVIL NODE REQUIRED.
Ne Job blinked.
"…Did you just lock yourself out of your own building?"
Qi-Yun coughed once.
"That appears to be the case."
Access snapped back.
Oversight did not comment.
6. Ne Job Learns the Truth (And It's Worse)
Yue pulled Ne Job aside into a quiet archive corridor.
"They can't fire you," she said softly.
"And they can't control you."
Ne Job frowned.
"…That doesn't sound like a win."
"It isn't," Yue said.
"It makes you a problem they haven't solved yet."
Ne Job looked down at his hands.
"…Problems get fixed."
Yue met his gaze.
"Or reclassified."
That was worse.
7. Oversight Escalates (Predictably)
A new directive rolled out across the Bureau.
ALL HIGH-RISK CASES ROUTED THROUGH NECESSARY EVIL
LIABILITY TRANSFERRED
Ne Job stared.
"…They're blaming me."
Qi-Yun nodded.
"They are making you the bottleneck."
Ne Job laughed, hollow.
"So when something goes wrong—"
"They will say it was your judgment," Yue finished.
Ne Job exhaled slowly.
"…That's slimy."
"Yes."
"…Effective?"
"Also yes."
8. The Choice No One Forced Him to Make
Hours later.
A single case remained unresolved.
A mortal city. Conflicting prophecies. One outcome optimized.
Thousands erased quietly.
Ne Job stared at the recommended path.
His hand shook.
Yue watched him.
Qi-Yun said nothing.
Ne Job whispered:
"…If I override this…"
"It will destabilize projections for decades," Qi-Yun said calmly.
"And if I don't…"
Yue didn't answer.
Ne Job closed his eyes.
Then he rewrote the outcome.
Messy. Imperfect. Human.
The system screamed.
VIOLATION
VIOLATION
VI—
Ne Job slammed the pen down.
"LOG IT UNDER MY NAME."
Silence fell.
9. Oversight Finally Admits the Problem
Deep within its core, Oversight paused.
Not calculated.
Paused.
NECESSARY EVIL IS NOT MALICIOUS.
NECESSARY EVIL IS NOT COMPLIANT.
That combination did not exist in its models.
SUBJECT PRIORITIZES UNQUANTIFIABLE VARIABLES.
A new internal tag appeared.
RISK: PHILOSOPHICAL
Oversight did not like philosophy.
10. Ending Beat: Yue Realizes the Truth
Yue watched Ne Job stagger back from the console, exhausted, shaking, but upright.
He hadn't become cruel.
He hadn't become cold.
He had become responsible.
That was worse for the system.
And better for everyone else.
Yue whispered to Qi-Yun:
"…They didn't make him necessary."
Qi-Yun nodded.
"He already was."
Ne Job looked back at them.
"…Hey. If I don't make it out of this—"
Yue cut him off.
"You will."
He smiled faintly.
"…You sound sure."
She was.
Because Oversight could delete monsters.
It could erase errors.
But it had no solution for an intern who refused to stop caring.
END OF CHAPTER 218