Little Mx "I Don't Have A Favourite"

It was likely you were someone who thought of anything that displayed an ounce of sentience or human-like intelligence as equivalent to a human, or at least like it enough to treat whatever it was as a person.

With an Abnormality, this could be deadly. In fact, if you weren't a Sephirah yourself, it would be deadly. You would be dead, forgotten, and the world would move on.

But you died once. And now you're a conscious within a robot managing a department at Lobotomy Corporation. If you're the same as who you were before or not, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that kindness—or is it pure delusion?— stuck.

Whatever department you manage isn't important either. But let's say you run the Maintenance Department. At the end of each workday, you and your employees come by to clean up the mess. Bag up the corpses and mop up the blood. And repair any damages the Abnormalities or employees made to the containment procedures.

This leads to interactions with Angela. Day after day you debrief with her, telling her the costs of what damages needed more to be fixed and everything that needed to be done. She listens, same impassive smile, watching calmly as you congratulate your employees on another day of hard work and send them to the dorms.

You don't typically interact with the Manager. Why would you? His job was to manage the employees during the day. Your job was to clean up any mess caused from his mistakes.

You have a ritual of sorts. Whenever a Memory Repository rolls around, you request a few cakes to share with your department. Typically, this request is denied, and you simply go make the cakes yourself. It's part of the reason many employees clamor to join your department whenever an opening arises. Your department is peaceful too, as are you.

Once, Angela questioned the necessity of your ritual. You just offered her to join you, which she declined. But ever since you regularly offered her to join.

"Why do you wish for me to accompany you?" She asked one day.

You told her because she was always alone. Wouldn't it do her good to have friends? Furthermore, enjoying food was a welcome experience you were still fortunate to have despite your body.

"I am an AI. I am uncertain if it is possible for me to eat?"

Wouldn't she like to try, you asked. Try food, test if she can eat? If she cannot, she can simply blame you.

She did not understand why you treated her in such a way, but she relented.

The time loop was harsh on her, after all. But maybe a bite of cake would be a welcome experience…

What was ten seconds to taste cake was a thousand to her. A thousand wonderful seconds compared to the billions of agony she went through before. Your employees were a little wary at her joining, but did not attempt to fight back.

You asked her if she liked the cake.

"…It is passable." She concluded. And then, in a voice barely a whisper, "Thank you."

You did not catch this, but ever since that day, Angela agreed to join in on your little ritual. And your requests began to become approved. But the timeline wore on. Managers were reset, days started anew, and nothing every seemed to change. But your ritual remained, as did your kindness, even towards her.

"Why do you speak to me the same way you speak to your employees?" She asked once.

You asked if she was not a person.

"I am an AI." She repeated, as she did so many times before. "I am not a human, and yet you seem to think of me as one."

She looked like a human, and she seemed to behave like one.

"Hm? How so?"

She could speak, she could think, and she even had opinions of her own.

"As do some Abnormalities. But they are not human, and it would be foolish to make the mistake of thinking so."

You asked if she thought she was an Abnormality.

"I do not, but I do not make the mistake of assuming I am a human."

You point out your own robotic form, asking if you do not count as a person.

"You have the mind of one. I simply have the appearance."

Silence, for a moment, and then you asked if she wanted to be a human.

"…"

She never gave you a response. And soon, you got up and left.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Angela's favoritism towards you was obvious among the other Sephirah. She'd speak down to them, but with you be polite and behave as if you were her equal. She'd calmly allow their employees to die, yet would give you time to mourn when the rare occasion came you lost one of yours. But the most evident of all was when the day ended and she spent her time hovering around you.

Now, you did not typically interact with most Sephirah, save for when you started work and needed to hear about what Abnormalities got out that day and who they killed. Perhaps who you interacted with the most would be those responsible for training or handling employees, but even then it would be rare. You almost never descended down to the bottom layer, much less interacted with Binah, Hokma, or whoever ran the Architecture Department.

And the Manager… well, as time wore on, you started to speak with him more. Even if to simply offer your missions and forcibly remember how you died. And how agonizing it was.

To be torn apart by something you once trusted… How cruel.

Yet your ritual remained. And you remained. You always remained. Even as employees went, you remained to mourn and remember them. Even as no one else seemed to care.

Angela asked you about this, once.

"Why do you seemed so bothered when an employee is lost? It has happen so often it would be natural to become used to it by now, no?"

You told her all dead should have someone to mourn them. Including her.

"I am incapable of death. As are you, for that matter. Your body may become damaged, yet that shall be repaired. It may be destroyed, and it will be rebuilt. You cannot die."

All the more reason for you to mourn someone when they go. After all, you died yourself.

"And yet you are back. And I cannot say anyone mourns you."

So you'll mourn yourself.

She fell silent at that.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Your meltdown came swiftly and harshly. Ironic someone who's job was to clean up when Abnormalities broke loose instead spent their whole meltdown trying to let them free.

Angela didn't interfere. After all, she wasn't allowed to interfere in matters like this. But something within her ached. If she were human, it would be her heart. But she is not one.

Yet you continue to act as if she is one.

Once your meltdown came to an end, she approached you. There was no passive-aggressive tones or cutting words, merely her silently standing over your smaller form.

She didn't say a word as you looked to her.

"How long until all of this is over?"

She didn't know. But even without a face, she saw your smile.

"I think this will end soon. And all our suffering will be worth it."

Not her's. Her's will never be worth it.

She didn't understand how you looked at that man and smiled like how you did to her. Or to the other Sephirah, who seemed rather apathetic to your struggles. Or to your employees, who's lives were meaningless and easily ended. You were an emotional thing.

But when you smiled at her like that, any ire towards you faded. You were by far the most innocent of the Sephirah, even if to the point of foolishness. But it was alright.

Even if you stand against her on the final day. Even if you don't smile at her when she keeps some of the light for herself. Even as you ignore her as she enters your floor of the Library. It will all be alright. She's a patient woman, after all. She's suffered through thousands of years of agony, after all. It will be worth it.

The two of you shall have cake, and you will smile at her again. As if she was a human.

And now, for you, she shall soon be one.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

W Corp Cleanup Agent Hong Lu takes you out on a date then and there. Depending on what the date is, he'll also spoil you.

Hook Office Fixer Hong Lu can and will give into his cuteness aggression and hurt you as a result. He'll do it so happily, too. Afterwards, if he's feeling nice, he'll patch you up and maybe give you a kiss.

Fanghunt Office Fixer Hong Lu, despite his dislike for bloodfiends, is no better than them. Act too cute in front of him and he'll be biting you all over. Though unlike bloodfiends, he'll be gentle with his bites so they only hurt a little bit.

Tingtang Gangleader Hong Lu is also very prone to violence when his cuteness aggression hits, though he prefers to deal with his aggression in other ways. Injuring you is all fun but he’d rather roughhouse and playfight with you than pin you down and injure you to his heart’s content. Though sometimes he’ll be happy just biting you.

K Corp Excision Staff Hong Lu can't do much besides watching you. No matter how much he wants to be beside your side, especially when you're being so cute. But he can't. He can't leave the glass prison he's trapped in unless he can get permission, which he never will.

Dieci Association Hong Lu teases you until he has his fill... which takes a while. He'd do other things that would deal with it much more efficiently and in a way that's more fun, but due to the nature of his power, he tends to forget even the simplest things and teasing you is instinctive to him.

Yurodivy Hong Lu is probably the course of his own cuteness aggression, as he'll share his lollipop with you because he thinks you'll look cute with it before he's overcome with just how cute you look. He'll deal with his cuteness aggression by spoiling you, only to feed into it.

Full Stop Office Rep Hong Lu enthusiastically drag you somewhere secluded or private. Depending on what you were doing before and how busy he is, you'll be spending a few minutes to a few hours alone with him and come out covered in lipstick marks and hickeys.

Reindeer Hong Lu merely wants you to be quiet and maybe away from him because he has a serious migraine and he doesn't want to lash out at you.

Lord of Hongyuan Hong Lu sends you away somewhere else because you're distracting him and he's busy.

Ring Nursefather Hong Lu is struck with inspiration the second he's overcome with cuteness aggression, so he's away creating a new artwork for the time being.

S Corp Ch'unokkun Hong Lu coos and croons at you as he ties you up tight so you can't get away or move while he plays with you as he wishes to deal with his cuteness aggression. Whether you're free to go afterwards or not is a whole different question.

Cinq Association Hong Lu coos and cups your face in his hands before squishing your cheeks. Seeing you like this only makes his cuteness aggression worse and he can't stop himself from kissing you all over your face, giggling afterwards about how cute and messy you look. It a shame he doesn't usually wear lipstick so he can't leave lipstick marks all over your face.

Roseate Desire Hong Lu wraps you up with his ribbons just tight enough that you can barely move, then you're stuck spending the next several hours with him. Or stuck with him until someone — most likely Dante — comes to untangle you from him.

Soda Hong Lu doesn't get cuteness aggression, but seeing you act so cute will make him join in on whatever you're doing.

Cavernous Wailing Hong Lu doesn't get cuteness aggression either. But if he did, he'd struggle to get a hold of his emotions and end up killing you.

Lasso Hong Lu quickly wraps you up with his lasso, ensuring you can't get away from him before he does whatever he wants with you— mostly squeezing you with hugs and biting.

Dimension Shredder Hong Lu gets filled with the urge to tear you to shreds. It's not a particularly strong urge but it puts him off all the same, so he tends to avoid you when you're beingtoo cute. Sometimes.

Effervescent Corrosion Hong Lu quickly gathers you in his arms and holds you close. Being his darling pearl, you don't get to act so cutely in front of him and get away without any consequences, no. He'll throughoughly spoil you however he can in the polluted beach the two of you are in, then maybe he'll let go.

Tears of the Tarnished Blood Hong Lu doesn't get cuteness agression so much as he gets lost in admiration. How can someone look so... cute? He'll happily spend hours just looking at you and taking in your cuteness.

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