LCE E.G.O::AEDD Gregor's Story
So, you've yet to handle any Abnormality management work.
No, sir! I haven't been... assigned anything yet. That's what, uh, Researcher...
Yi Sang.
Ah, yes. That's what Researcher Yi Sang told me the other day.
Hmm... I see. Here, take this.
Uh...
Call it a tradition of sorts. In our team, the individual who has made the most... yes, "aggressive" projection of the day's expected yield buys coffee for everyone in the team.
Amending in the spirit of accuracy, it is the individual who has made the most "far-fetched" projection of the day's expected yield.
I'd rather not argue over semantics when we're effectively saying the same thing.
I sense an ulterior motive on your part to obscure the overwhelming margin of error in your calculations.
... Take the cup already. My hand's starting to burn.
Oh, sorry!
In the dim hallway, a coffee vending machine stands out with its conspicuous glow among the few flickering lights.
The child and the other children - his teammates - are gathered around the coffee machine, each holding a cup as they always do during late-night overtime.
Tonight, there are four of them, with the newly assigned researcher joining the circle.
Miss Faust, perhaps you would want to refrain from provoking our team leader so excessively.
You are well aware that, were it not for the three procedural errors that have occurred earlier this day, the team leader's calculations would have aligned ideally.
Oh, wait...
It was me, wasn't it...? The work I did during my training today...
Are you not going to take the cup?
The child casually pressed the coffee into the novice researcher's hands, preemptively stifling the newcomer's apology before it even escaped his lips, then lit up another cigarette.
Another uncontrollable variable, I suppose. I don't normally factor in mistakes into my calculations regarding projects of this nature. It's my blind spot that these two often exploit to outmaneuver me in our wagers.
... I'm sorry.
Not really something that warrants your apology, is it?
The child took a sip of coffee and studied the newcomer with a calm expression.
That composed gaze stirred a faint hope in the novice researcher - that the Research Team Chief might offer something encouraging, perhaps a remark or two about how everyone has to start somewhere and that mistakes are simply part of the journey. However...
Whether or not you are a natural-born genius is hardly a variable within your control. The fault lies with me for expecting the rest of humanity to perform at my level.
Oh. I see...
The newcomer could only stand there, stunned into silence. There was not a trace of arrogance in the child's tone - the child's words were delivered so matter-of-factly, as though he were stating some of the most obvious, common-sense facts about the world.
Pray understand. As you have surely perceived, no ill intent resides in his speech.
Did it sound as though I were being spiteful?
Always.
Hmm... I suppose I'll try to be more mindful of that. If I can be bothered to, that is.
The child smacked his lips and took another sip from the paper cup.
The rest of the team had already heard him say that well over 30 times by now...
Still, they didn't bother pointing it out. They knew, after all, that he was not someone who would change simply because someone suddenly decided to broach the subject of his attitude - which is why they dismissed the child's fleeting introspection with little more than a quiet scoff and decided to move on.
They knew that the child could leave a rather unpleasant impression...
... but they also knew that it only takes a brief time together for people to realize that he is, in fact, a man with a heart of gold.
And that, if anyone were ever to hear about the past he'd had to live through...
... the unpleasant first impression would melt into sympathy and a quiet wish for his peace of mind.
... ry.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...
A few days later...
The familiar warning siren rang out, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps racing through the research team's hallway.
No need to be so harsh on yourself. Confusing a managerial work with another has happened 3 or 4 times, I'd say, since the establishment of the LCE Department.
As a point of fact, however, the researchers responsible for those mistakes are no longer with us in this department.
Ahh...
While the child and his teammates in E.G.O gears dispatched the Peccatula one by one, the novice researcher could only cower behind them - whether due to inexperience with the newly assigned E.G.O gear, or from sheer panic.
Miss Faust. The most rational solution would be for me to handle the Peccatulum Irae.
Then I leave it to you.
It tends to lunge and charge without warning. You'll want to make sure it doesn't reach your junior.
There shall be no such concern...!
I'm sorr - No, no, this isn't the time to be saying that...
Good. Glad to see you recognize that. If you've got time for apologies, then use it to observe and learn from your seniors.
Don't trouble yourself with what I am doing. It is, in any event, a caliber not easily attained by ordinary minds such as yours.
... I promise, once this is over, I'll focus on analyzing E.G.O and do better. It's time I learned to carry my own weight...
Others will be carrying your body weight if you keep speaking as though you are leaving your last words.
Chief Gregor... Ngh! Are you not yet finished?
Almost done here.
That statement has now been repeated three times... It's growing increasingly unreliable. Current damage rate stands at 23%. Your gear won't hold for long.
You are overstating the danger. The previous durability test result remained within acceptable parameters up to 57%, didn't it? And... around 41%, I believe, the self-repair mechanism will activate.
That test was conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. Its reliability is questionable.
Which is why I am out here engaging myself with the task of obtaining real-combat data.
*sigh*
Though Peccatula seldom manage to breach containment by themselves, the interference and influence of other Abnormalities or Distortions make this a rather frequent affair.
And on such days... the child busies himself, gathering fresh data for his research.
The terminus of dregs that could not even become Distortions, much less Efflorescing an E.G.O of their own.
Textual description alone proved sufficient to connect the dots during Class 1 Peccatula Observation...
But from Class 3 onward... would you not agree that the entities appear rather anomalous? The self should have been entirely lost, leaving behind only the manifestation of sins.
One can't help but ask what manner of sinful life could possibly give rise to monsters such as these... and as mere byproducts, too.
Set aside your philosophical musings and lend us your aid first...!
Right, right... 91%.
At any rate, I imagine I will soon arrive at the answer through my own inquiry... we can revisit the subject then.
Hah...! Might you be arranging another experiment that erodes your own life in the process?
'The deceased employee's corpse has been collected and transported to a designated site within the Research Facility.' If my life is to conclude as nothing more than so tedious a line in a death report, I would much rather leave behind a corpus of data bearing my name.
T-Team Leader... Someday, I'll develop the same conviction as you...
Pay no heed to such words. You have scarcely donned that white coat for long, and already you would make of it a burial shroud... I have no wish to be handed the death report of my junior.
You took the words right out of my mouth, Yi Sang. Don't think I haven't noticed you walking that fine line between fearlessness and foolishness, especially with those Attunement Level experiments...
Ahem...
... If anyone wishes to avoid receiving death reports, it would be me. Ordinary minds should remain within their proper limits. Is that understood?
Damage rate is at 43%...!
Fine, fine!
The scanner soon chimed with an alert. The child rose to his feet, dusting his knees as he cast his eyes upon swarms of Peccatula still surging through the hallway.
Sparks of electric current crackled along his shoulders.
As always, this sort of discussion is to be kept within the team.
I trust you will keep your mouths shut about it in front of others.
For all the rotten reputation surrounding the child as a team leader, his team members readily accept him as their chief researcher for two reasons:
The first is that he's no empty talker - he is, undeniably, a real genius.
And the second is that...
I only allow myself to say these things to you... because you're my team.
... beneath that frosty veneer, he is someone who cares more deeply for his team than anyone realizes.