Chapter Text
“Warp: ‘L-Corp Facility-X’ completed, thank you for working with W-Corporation. Please ensure that all information classified within the Lobotomy-Warp Corporate contract is wiped from the minds of unauthorized personnel.”
Yuri woke to such words coming from a mechanical voice, shaking her head to be rid of the strange fog that had settled within her mind. She, along with all the other employees who had taken the Warp Train, had been strapped tightly to their seats, unable to move. W-Corp’s L4 and L5 agents now walked across the aisle, releasing them from their seatbelts.
“It really only took ten seconds, that’s W-Corp for you.” Said one of her fellow branch employees across the row. Yuri thought she could hear several of W-Corp’s agents scoff in response.
It didn’t take long for all of them to be released, and soon enough several dozen employees alongside a large number of contained abnormalities and E.G.O equipment stood by themselves at what appeared to be a makeshift warp station. The train had already left, no further instructions having been given to them.
Clerks and agents alike shuffled around awkwardly, none of them fully sure of what to do. Yuri couldn’t help but notice that quite a few of them were looking at her with expectant eyes.
Of course. She had somehow ended up being put in charge by that strange man, after all. The clerk took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and nervously began to give out orders. Her voice was unsure, and she often stuttered between each sentence. Yuri was quickly beginning to grow tired of being a leader, hopefully someone from the main branch will take command soon enough.
Just as the employees began to check the cargo to ensure that containment procedures were being kept, as though a god had heard her prayers, somebody equipped with E.G.O gear walked in through a large steel gate at the furthest end of the room. As the supposed leader of their sorry band, Yuri jogged over to the agent before giving a stiff salute.
“I-I’m Yuri, a clerk of the control department and the acting leader of the employees arriving from branch D-02.”
The agent rolled her eyes at Yuri’s introduction, whispering something offensive about clerks under her breath. The redhead would’ve likely been offended had she not been a nervous wreck at the moment.
“Captain of the control department, acting Sephirot of Asiyah, and assistant manager. Name’s Iris. Do you have a full report of the shipment ready?”
Yuri fumbled around for a second before bringing out her clipboard with at least two dozen pages attached to it. “Y-Yes ma’am.”
Iris took the clipboard without a word, the captain’s rather tired eyes darting across each sheet of paper as she quickly flipped through all of them. Yuri couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, she’d finally been released from her forced leadership role. The main branch would obviously be well staffed, so no longer would she have to fight off raiders with just a pistol every day. Now she could just return to her job of filing paperwork—
Her thoughts were interrupted as Captain Iris returned the clipboard to her.
“Great. Congratulations are in order, you are being promoted. I, Iris, have hereby resigned from my position as assistant manager as I have found an employee better suited to the duties of the position.” Seemingly out of thin air, the captain brought out a piece of paper that appeared to be a contract. Iris quickly scribbled her signature onto it before handing it off to Yuri.
“W-What? C-Can I reject the promotion?”
“Haha. No.” The captain attempted to walk away, but was stopped by Yuri.
“W-Wait, how am I in any way qualified for this position?!” Iris rolled her eyes once again before brushing the clerk off.
“Anyone is qualified, it’s just hellish work is all. But hey, at least your paycheck gets three zeros at the end of it.” The captain chortled as though she had made a very funny joke.
Yuri couldn’t help but grimace.
In spite of her initial protests, Yuri eventually found herself on the highest floor of the facility, right outside the door of the manager’s office.
“U-Um, is anyone there?” The clerk asked. No response. She had knocked several times already, and there has yet to be any sign of life beyond the door. Maybe the manager wasn’t in his office?
Maybe she could just leave and unload the work onto someone else? Iris did it, so surely she’d be able to do the same. But who could she unload it onto? She was just a clerk, so she doubted she’d be able to strongarm anyone into doing it. Besides, she didn’t want to be a burden. But then again, she really didn’t want to take on any more responsibilities, she simply wasn’t built for it. But still…
After running in a mental circle for several minutes, the clerk eventually came to a decision. Maybe she could just tell the manager she wasn't qualified and he’d understand. Her last manager was a very reasonable person, so surely it wouldn’t be too different at the main branch.
After reassuring herself a few more times, she hesitantly twisted the handle, and opened the door…
Horror. That is the only word that could describe the scene in front of her.
Piles of crumpled paper dotted the floor, each one covered by dust that had been gathering for no less than two weeks at a minimum. The file cabinets lining the walls were left open sporadically, its contents often spilling out and being left on the surrounding ground.
Yuri gulped in fear as she took a step forward into the room. The pungent smell of coffee was the first thing to hit her, practically burning away her nose hair. Indeed, four coffee machines were currently running in the corner. There were unwashed mugs, a whole squad of them, and if that wasn’t horrifying enough there were at least three dozen more paper cups that had endured far more than what they were made for.
Worst of all, the lights were off. What Yuri had just seen was only what she could make out with the scant illumination the wall of monitors on the far end of the room had provided. There is far more slinking across the dark corners of the room, no doubt about it.
The desk at the center of the room was empty. The manager wasn’t here then. She didn’t blame them.
Going against her better judgement, perhaps in a fit of morbid curiosity, Yuri turned on the lights.
Somebody grunted in surprise, and she heard a loud thud from below the desk followed by a hiss of pain. A quick glance over the office chair revealed a man clutching his head on the floor, the space below the table having been converted into a… ‘living’ space.
“What is it now?” The man’s voice held a great deal of annoyance, though funnily enough, Yuri couldn’t find in herself to feel intimidated. Not when faced with the bipedal equivalent of a raccoon.
“I’m here with a report from branch D-02.” She said, turning the clipboard in her hand for him to see. The man completely ignored her, continuing to clutch his head with one hand as he got up and approached the corner of coffee machines before taking several gulps straight from the pot. Yuri grimaced.
“Come again?” He asked, still not looking her way as he made his way back to the desk before taking a seat.
“I’m here with a report from branch D-02!” She repeated, louder this time. The man’s response was to wave at her dismissively.
“That’s great, just put it around here somewhere, I’ll get to it eventually.” He still hadn’t turned to look at her once, and his utterly dismissive attitude continued. Yuri had to push down a sense of frustration that was quickly building up, simply sighing instead.
“Do you know where the manager is?” She finally asked.
“Yes.” Was his response as he began to fumble through a pile of paper on his desk. Yuri waited several seconds for an elaboration that never came.
“...Would you be willing to tell me where?” Yuri could not hide the strain in her voice.
“No.” Was the entirety of the man’s reply.
Through gritted teeth, Yuri spoke. “You see, it’s just that there appears to have been a mistake pertaining to the position of assistant manager, as I’ve been put into the position in spite of being unqualifi—” She never got the chance to finish her sentence, as the man’s head immediately perked up at the word ‘assistant manager’ before he interrupted her.
“Iris found her replacement?” He finally turned to look at her. The one who had been ignoring her so brazenly all this time had a scruffy face with an unkept stubble covering his lower head.
“W-Well, technically yes, but—” To her endless frustration she was interrupted once again.
In one smooth motion he took a large stack of paper that must’ve weighed at least five kilograms before dumping them into her hands.
“Get all of that abbreviated." He ordered. Yuri tried to raise her voice in protest, but the man continued on.
“Then make sure team captains are following protocols, get them to write full reports on all their departments. Then I want you to document all breach incidents that occurred over the last week, the information team should have the raw data stored.”
Yuri’s face grew paler with each word, and with every failed attempt at making her resignation known dread settled into her heart.
She wasn’t getting out of this, was she?
The proceeding day was an endless whirlwind of work. Yuri didn’t know why everyone in the main branch seemed so intent on not using digital methods of storing information, but evidently, they took it very seriously as almost everything was done through paper with the only exception being the information team’s data storage.
She didn’t know if it was because she was exhausted from the whole ordeal at the old branch, or if it was simply her being inexperienced with her—begrudgingly—new duties, but by the end of the day, the mountain of work that had to be done had only increased. At some point, the ever advancing pile of paper must’ve gotten the best of her, as she found herself waking up from a deep slumber a little past midnight.
She took a sniff of her uniform. Yep, it smelled of coffee. Must’ve spilt on her somewhere along the line. A glance around the room showed her to be alone in the, now dark, office. The other guy must’ve left her alone after she passed out. Didn’t even bring her a blanket.
Rude.
Yuri considered a hundred different things she could say to resign as she left the office to hopefully find somewhere to sleep. Surely she could find a free bed somewhere in the facility.
However, just as she was about to reach the elevator leading down, a light beyond an unmarked door caught her attention. Curiosity getting the best of her, the clerk glanced in.
Yuri couldn’t stop herself from grimacing as she found none other than her slavedriver. She was about to turn away, only to notice something strange about the room. It was completely barren, and was in a terrible condition compared to the rest of the facility that was practically pristine. Steel walls were torn out in places, revealing sparkling wires and broken electronic modules.
The only notable feature of the room was a steel gate at the far end, one she recognized as an exit to the facility. Sitting on a simple stool in the middle of the room, the raccoon man—a nickname she had decided upon as she still didn’t know his name—was staring into the gate with great intensity. It was an eerie scene, to say the least.
“Are you okay?” Yuri cursed her own kindness. She should've just left.
“Sure.” Was his reply.
The clerk frowned. “What are you doing?”
Several beats of silence passed.
…
…
…
The man shrugged. “Thinking, I suppose.”
There was a wistful tone to his voice, a sense of yearning so very different from the dismissive man who she worked with just a few hours ago.
Of course. He was an employee at Lobotomy Corporation, after all.
There’s not a single one among them who are ‘okay’. Not in a place like this.
She tried to come up with something comforting to say, but knowing nothing of his plight couldn’t do much except approach him before giving a pat on the shoulder.
His voice called out as she turned to leave.
“Down the hall, on the left side. You can take that as your room. We’re getting back to work at six.”
Yuri sighed. She was getting her wish of filing paperwork, she supposed.