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EGO corrosions …I usually avoid forcing my Sinners to mutate themselves into abominations of human nature, however there have been some instances where that ability helps in combat. One time I had to use Don Quixote’s telepole corrosion against a particularly tank like abnormality in a refraction railway battle, but never did I force my commands, after all this is their own sanity and bodies I’m talking about. Sure I’m not the greatest manager, an actual alarm clock from T Corp could take my job in a heartbeat. Usually against that blubbering toad, they’ll loose their sanity and corrode on their own; exhaling bitter up negativity in one attack.
But usually…they only corrode once and return back to normal…usually as well they only corrode in battle and never on the bus.
The Red Shoes. I reached into Mephistopheles around a couple days after leaving Wuthering Heights and found a WAW level EGO for Rodion. At the time, I didn’t understand why she was picked? We’d previously used a similar abnormality called “pink shoes” and their powers weren’t as impressive. She however, laughed off my concerns; requested to it in our next mirror dungeon exploration.
At first she seemed normal, dawning the crimson dress and deadly heels like a spoiled princess in a fairytale. With several slashes of her axe, her target would disintegrate into a bloody mist as the rest of team fought for scrapes from their queen. And this was the status quo up until we had to investigate time killing time.
Blood clot like tears were common complaints from the second tallest sinner, burning away her weekly pay check for eye drops and makeup to hide away this disease of hers. Guess her confidence dipped from that day forwards; complaining under her breath about Sonya and whether she would ever catch up to him, whatever that means.
Around a day after our trip from T Corp to P Corp, she began wearing her corrosion dress, spider like appendages holding her body hostage. Obviously Vergilius complained about her breaking the uniform policy, his glassy red eyes glaring down at the blood stained ruffles that hid away her figure. From my recollection, she tutted at him; walked to the back corridor of the bus, into the mirror dungeon entrance.
And that was the last time we saw her outside the mirror dungeon, locking herself inside her personal castle. I attempted all sorts of solutions, bribing her with food and expensive alcohol, brute forcing with new identities from the engine and even fake promises of breaking into a P Corp Yurodivvy camp to make her feel better. But nothing worked…except…
“Manager bud, Frau Faust asked me visit.” Gregor slightly opened my office door with a confused expression. I usually perform routine check ups with the sinners, checking their mental stability and chatting with them one to one. I rather enjoy speaking to them as individuals, our mission so far has forced them to confront parts of themselves that scare them, parts that would usually bottle up into a trauma well. My last confrontation was…with Rodion before we entered the refraction railway.
“Thank you for visiting us Gregor, we have recent made a breakthrough with retrieving lady Rodya from the mirror dungeon.” Faust spoke first, holding some of my papers like a secretary while Gregor sat down opposite myself. He used his human arm as a headrest while I grabbed my PDA.
“Faust has found a pattern with yourself and Rodya, there is a constant within most mirror worlds you two are always together.” He looked upwards, a reddish mark stained against his cheek. “Sorry, what are you two try’n to imply?”
“Both in the mirror worlds of the Zwei and Liu, you two are coworkers in different sections but meet up for dinner dates. Similar to that is the world of the Rosespanner workshop, she never overworks you compared to the rest of the company and pays you like a king with her gambling earnings. Even in the dim backstreets of the Kurokumo world, you two will merrily drink until your bladders bleed and Ryoshu has to beat the alcohol out of you…” Gregor was more irritated now, shielding his eyes away from Faust as she rambled on about different parallel worlds with both his organic and roach arm. “Some of the identities Dante has extracted have seemed to combine during missions. Your twinhook pirate identity was pretty smitten with her as a LCCB assistant manager to the point Ishmael corroded just to stop the threats. Similarly, we used that Edgar identity and you were commanding a version of her as a time collector around like a servant; she agreed to with a fake smile due to that version of you’s status. Then there was a time while we were using N Corp inquisitor identities when you, in your R.B identity, attempted to execute an army of prophetic criminals for their flesh to bake into pies…”
“What’s the point of this rambling Faust?” He interrupted, scratching my table with his roach arm from a presumed annoyance of Faust’s rambling. “Faust shall continue, after all even without the usage of other identities you two are inseparable…” I felt a cold hand patting my back, most likely Faust wanting me to continue this confrontation. “There’s been sound complaints for weeks from everyone on board about you two, times where I’ve had to separate you two from each other. Even Heathcliff made an observation of the haircut you and Hong Lu gave him looking similar to yours. Is there nothing between the toe of you?”
I’m not against sinner relationships. If they were all coupled up behind my back it wouldn’t really bother my abilities in team formation or scheduling. Limbus Company higher ups on the other hand might have a different opinion. Furthermore after the “we deleted Cathy from existing” incident, I’m a bit more conscious over whether a relationship could cause distortions and the likewise. My guest looked upwards at the both of us, then back at his arm and up at us again, more and more blush coloured and chuckling. “Manager bud…are you serious? She just takes pity of me. You see that in all the mirror worlds…” Now laughing to distract us from the conversation.
In the glimpse of his expression, he seems upset, trying to hide away something like a child not telling a parent they broke something. After a minute of silence and harsh stares from Faust he finally confessed something. “Promise not to judge manger bud?” I nodded, with a ticking sound from my clock head confirming his request. “She…deserves some actual nice guy, not a old war vet like myself with a sickly appendage like this and horror stories for days…” He looked away to my coat, hanging up by the door as a cigarettes was pulled out his best pocket. “We’ve both been through hell and back…all us have but still a roach like myself wouldn’t bring back a princess like her.”
“Dante has found a solution, however, we require your services.” I turn around the PDA tablet in front of me, displaying a new EGO from the most recent Walpurstinacht extraction. “Funeral of the dead butterflies is a HE level EGO that Dante found for you. Apparently, this abnormality has similarities to yourself…” Gregor blows out some smoke from his cigarette, sniggering from the appearance of the abnormality, a black and white butterfly creature that looked human but with the caveat of multiple arms and a coffin on its back. “If you use this EGO within the Mirror Dungeon, there is a chance she will come to her senses or at least you could fight against her.”
“What makes you think I’ll work? I’ve been in there for an attempt at getting her back and it didn’t work.” Ah I remember that plan of mine, using all the Wuthering Heights identities together to brute force our way inside, unfortunate it didn’t work although she slightly listen to Edgar Gregor, slightly resisting her axe throw before killing him and forcing us to retreat. “She’ll listen to *her* Gregor.” Faust interrupted while fidgeting with one of my pens. “Alright fine, it’s worth a shot.”
Outside the Mirror Dungeon entrance, me and Gregor were wished goodbye by the rest of the sinners, Sinclair and Don praying for their friend and older sister figure to come back safely as we opened up the violet metal doors. Usually when I make the sinners go through the mirror dungeon we move through long corridors that resemble places from our travels. Unfortunately for the two of us, she changed up the place into a single ballroom, like the boss battle arenas at the end of each floor. Decorated with pinkish red curtains and golden pillars, Rodion sat on the marble like floor with her monstrous axe next to her. She’s still in that red dress, split in the middle with an iron ribcage like hoop skirt. Unlike before, her copper hair, that was wrapped around a metal headdress that looked like spider arms, was drenched with blood, smelling like iron and dead corpses.
“My prince! Have you returned for me?” She shouted, exiting standing upwards with a creepy smile. According an old abnormality log, the red shoes would take over its host and act out its own desire, usually leading to murder. Somehow Rodion’s feelings were intertwining with the shoe’s, leaking blood on the ground from her ankles that looked like they were bitten by a large animal. I forced Gregor to use Solemm lament, his arm changing to a cluster of monochrome butterflies as his usually scruffy work clothes changed to a black and white suit. Immediately after his metamorphosis, Gregor pointed up his guns at Rodion, making the queen of the dungeon laugh maniacally. “Being hard to get my prince~” She suddenly glided to the butterfly man, blood trailing behind them, as she forced them to dance.
I felt powerless as my two corroded sinners waltzed in this arena, looking at each other with confusion but also desire. The abnormalities controlling them only knew of violence and sorrow, yet here they are dancing away with a human body acting as their hostages. Then again, with constant death and opening up their theoretical coffins worth of trauma, dancing together like a fantasy couple was what they truly what they desired. Rodion was giggling like a schoolgirl as her butterfly partner spun her around.
“Thank you my prince, I love you so much~” She dropped the axe, holding her left hand to her old spackled chin with her other snaked around to the cigarette in his mouth. Patting away the loose hair around his eye before landing the most romantic act she could. A kiss.
Gregor shot a bullet up her chin, the impact pushing her onto the ground. “Why…my prince…”
“What a tragedy, a person falling in love any for them to have their feelings reciprocated under EGO corruption.” Another bullet on her forehead, more blood poring out of Rodion, making the usually palest sinner an even more sickly ivory. I grab onto Gregor, noticing how the coffin on his back is slightly open, ready to corrode.
“Please babe…it’s better to corrode now…it’s better in than out…” In the glimpse of my vision, Rodion was slightly recovered, he only black eyes from before reverting back to the usual sapphire. But only for a second. With my consent, Gregor morphed again as several arms sprouted out his chest; mask formed to look like the abnormality’s head covering up his apathetic expression.
Thousands of butterflies erupted out of the coffin as Gregor took open fire on Rodion, lying flat on the floor and letting the bullets hit her. Although not the kindest death I’ve seen, 10 or so butterflies landed in her forehead, planing a soft kiss on what remained of untouched skin as my only remaining sinner reverted back to normal with a gun shot bursting her feet into nothing.
When sinners use their identities, they share memories and experiences with the person they’re acting as. EGO on the other hand, only remembers the original abnormality and is more sinner forward. Gregor looked down at Rodion’s corpse, grabbing another cig and lighting it with my head.
Now left with a bloodless corpse, I reversed time as our dead sinner reverted back into her usual self, no longer bound to that fancy dress and spider jewellery. She energetically woke up, jumping upwards and embraced the both of us. “Thanks guys! Let’s get out here cause I’m starving.” Although she lost heavy amounts of blood in the battle, Rodion attempted to walk; falling onto her knees.
“Here, we’ll get you some steak back in the bus.” Gregor used both arms, insect and human working in harmony, to pick up the weekend sinner; bridal carrying her to the back door. She hid away her face, asking whether he was breaking his back to carry her, receiving a complaint about her jokes. She was truly back to normal.
My theory was confirmed when we returned to the bus, the rest of the sinner asking about our adventure with the three of us assuring them it wasn’t one to tell. Settling down into our seats. We continued our adventure in P Corp.
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Well I would end my official report for Faust here, I would like to write more of the two sinners in question.
-Go right ahead Dante.-
During the drive, the two were sitting together. It’s common as you know for us to change seats depending on the time of day and such. However, these two were cuddling in the back seats usually reserved for Heathcliff and Meursault. Rodion was using Gregor as a pillow of sort and her jacket as a blanket for the two of them.
-EGO corrosion can sometimes cause that. We should pursue more tests with the Walpurgis specific EGO when more is available.-
Do you know then when we’ll get more?
-As of now, Faust doesn’t know or maybe Faust has been restricted of this knowledge-
Well thank you for helping them today Faust.
-And thank you for being the manager Dante-