Lobotomy Corporation but with Simulation System?

[Question, Manager, what is your name?]

"Uh… X?

Angela, what are you asking? Why are you asking my name?"

Even though she was answering her name, X couldn't help but use a questioning tone. When someone asks your name, you should answer directly… Few people would hesitate.

Unless, that wasn't her name…

X couldn't explain why. She hadn't felt anything when introducing herself. But now, when her name, "X," was mentioned, she felt strange, or perhaps, a sense of incongruity. There was no logical reason for this feeling.

The only way to explain it was a subconscious feeling that she wasn't like that…

Why would someone have a name like "X," a double letter? X hadn't thought much about it before because that was her name. But now that it was mentioned, she felt it was wrong.

"X" seemed less like a name and more like a title, like Lobotomy Corp's founder, 'A.'

Others in the Corporation, like the AI Secretary and the Deans, called Lobotomy Corp's founder 'A.' This was a sign of respect. Their real names didn't need to be known by the employees.

Well, all information needed to be classified. Information about 'A' was clearly confidential, only to be learned piecemeal from her.

As for 'A's' appearance, personality, preferences… X knew nothing. Of course, it didn't really matter… It didn't affect her work.

In fact, L Corporation, Lobotomy Corp, did have a habit of using initials as a form of address, like the Department Deans, those AIs, all had their own initials, without any repetition.

Control Department Dean Malkuth, Information Department Dean Yesod, Safety Department Dean Netzach, Training Department Dean Hod. They all wore their initials on their sleeves.

The elite employees in those Departments also wore their Department's initials on their sleeves, to show their identity. This was a simple way to manage and distinguish employees.

But… was this a little strange?

Because the AI Secretary always naturally called her that, and the Department Deans always naturally called her 'X,' X hadn't noticed that she was different.

Was her name a little inappropriate?

That was why X had suddenly asked her Secretary that question. But this curiosity, this confusion, was not acknowledged by the AI Secretary.

The AI didn't answer X's question. She issued a stern warning.

[You only need to answer my questions. If you continue to discuss irrelevant topics, I will consider it a disruption, a violation of the rules of the game.]

As the AI spoke, she twirled the pen. Her delicate, slender hands were incredibly dexterous. The black recorder spun smoothly in her hand, without any hesitation. The pen was like an extension of her hand.

The rules of the question-and-answer game were clear. The questioner asks, the answerer answers. There was no reason for the answerer to question the questioner. The rules were simple, the questioner asks, and the answerer answers.

As for the specific rules, the AI naturally held the right of interpretation.

"Oh, I understand. Continue asking questions, Angela. I'll follow the rules this time!"

X nodded skillfully, much more obedient than before… She didn't continue to explore the issues related to her name and other oddities.

For example, the only possible repetition of initials in the entire Corporation was Angela. Angela's initial, A, was the same as Lobotomy Corp's founder, 'A.' But this probably didn't matter much—

After all, if you just talked about the AI, the Department AIs and the controlling AI, Angela, didn't have the same initial. And it wasn't strange that the founder, A, named her creation with the same initial.

But was there some kind of beautiful hope or aspiration behind this? Was it a kind of blessing?

But X found it difficult to grasp these nuances. She could only guess, speculate, guess from an outsider's perspective. Usually… this was simply over-interpreting.

How much could you understand? That depended on the questioner's mood. And the current questioner was her AI Secretary. And X was the one struggling to answer.

And the AI's temperament was as unpredictable as a cat. She was a difficult servant.

X could only silently pray that Angela wouldn't ask any tricky or difficult questions. If they were simple math problems, it would be fine. But if it was anything else, she would have to rely on her survival instinct and guess randomly.

People could do anything when they were desperate. But comprehension was something that couldn't be faked. X didn't know the answer, she simply didn't understand.

No one was covering her dazzling golden eyes, yet a hazy mist still lingered…

There were things she didn't know, yet perhaps she knew deep down, but she kept avoiding knowing. It was like trying to wake someone who was pretending to be asleep.

The old clock ticked. The minute hand inched forward. After a long time, the hour hand moved. Perhaps it was partial to that old clock? In this simple room, there was an old clock, instead of an LED digital clock.

[Manager, the next question is your age and gender.]

"…"

"Twenty-six? But it also feels like twenty-eight. Thirty is also possible. As for gender… Angela, are you deliberately mocking me— Uh, okay, I'm rambling again."

X counted on her fingers, although it was meaningless. She still made this gesture, trying to show that she was young… young at heart…

At least, her liking for hot milk and sweet cookies showed she was still young at heart— She wasn't the kind of person who liked to pretend to be serious. The people who could become CEOs of Wings of the World usually had very impressive resumes.

Even if she were thirty, X still looked young, without any traces of age. She was in her prime, elegant and graceful.

In reality, thirty was quite young in the city. Wealth could buy anything you wanted, even time could be traded, eternal youth, maintaining a youthful body was incredibly easy.

Money could buy anything, and power and glory were the same, or perhaps, that was the shadow of power.

As the Manager of L Corp, a subsidiary of Wings of the World, X had achieved a position, wealth, and glory that most people in the city would only dream of.

But X was indifferent to it, or perhaps, she couldn't feel any other emotions. She couldn't feel anything extraordinary about her job as Manager.

Even if she resigned, whoever took over as Manager could probably do it.

She was just a Manager who could be fired by her Secretary at any time… It was hard to imagine what position or wealth, let alone glory, she could have.

X found it hard to understand the employees' feelings. She knew why they were excited to join Wings of the World, but she couldn't relate.

Even without joining Lobotomy Corp, X could have joined any "Wings of the World" company. She had choices. L Corp wasn't her only option.

Thinking about it, she had joined Lobotomy Corp simply because their offer letter had arrived quickly, so she had accepted the job without thinking. And now, X regretted her choice.

Why were there so many problematic AIs?

The Corporation's AIs had significant personality flaws in their design.

And many of these flaws, when magnified, could become fatal, severely affecting the Corporation's efficiency…

If it was purely about pursuing greater profits… it shouldn't be like this. But this was the Corporation's arrangement. X couldn't question it. Obeying the Corporation's arrangements was a matter of discipline.

—Don't question the Corporation's arrangements.

—The AI Secretary represents the Corporation. Obey the AI's arrangements.

X told herself this, a cute, muffled sound escaping her throat.

Whenever the AI poked her waist, X would make this sound. She was like a kidnapped victim, huddled in a corner, her hands raised high, showing her vulnerability.

The questions continued, still pointless…

[Manager, this is the last question. Please answer honestly. Your living situation, marital status, and relationships with friends and family?]

"…"

X fell silent, her golden eyes fixed on her AI Secretary for several seconds. The expression on her face showed her complex emotions.

—What kind of question is this? Are you kidding me?

Was the AI seriously asking, or pretending to be serious? What was she even asking?

X's file must be in the Corporation. They didn't even need to ask her. With Wings of the World's capabilities, investigating her background would be easy.

Unless the AI was deliberately teasing her, treating her like a plaything… X couldn't think of any other possibility.

The AI Secretary had no reason to ask such a boring question.

"… Angela, I'm single."

It was a simple and straightforward answer, but X didn't really want to say it. After all, what did her marital status have to do with the Secretary, an AI?

She was single. Where would she find a partner? She didn't have any relationships. A human child was even more impossible. If the AI was lacking love and wanted to experience human childhood, she had found the wrong person.

X wasn't the type of person who was interested in romance. If it weren't for her work as Manager, she wouldn't interact with the Corporation's AI.

She would probably be like Yesod from the Information Department, completing her tasks, processing things properly, then sitting alone in a dusty corner, drinking, enjoying her own time quietly.

But the AI didn't think so. X saw her AI Secretary frown.

—Did I say something wrong?

There was no way the AI understood her better than she did herself, right?

X's heart skipped a beat. She secretly felt uneasy. Was the AI about to announce, [Congratulations, Manager, for winning second place in the Manager Simulation Contest. First place: Angela]?

Fortunately, it wasn't this kind of heavy news.

[Manager, your answer is good. Want this?]

It was the black recorder that the AI had been twirling in her hand. It was like teasing a cat with a stick, appearing and disappearing in front of X.

"Give it to me, Angela. You promised."

X reached out to take the "weakness" that the AI Secretary had been holding, but her hand was immediately pressed down by the AI Secretary, preventing her from taking it.

[Manager, did you forget something?]

"Oh? Thank you?"

X was being held down by the Secretary, like a cat that couldn't get what it wanted, clinging to her body. She was eager to destroy the "evidence" and quickly responded.

A desperate rabbit bites. A desperate Siberian forest cat also bites.

But this bite was different. It wasn't so much a bite as a kiss… Perhaps it was an unconscious action. Or perhaps, she simply felt this was more effective.

X was a person who focused on efficiency and results. She didn't dwell on methods and processes.

She licked the AI's hand that was pressing on her, gently biting the elastic and soft simulated skin with her teeth, leaving her scent, rubbing her scent onto the AI's hand.

Kissing the AI's hand was what X was doing. She didn't seem to realize what this meant. Or perhaps, she hadn't considered the possible consequences.

X was trying to get the AI to let go of her hand so she could take the recorder and destroy the "evidence." This action did have an effect, but it had the opposite effect.

After all, the reverse reaction could not only increase the Double Speed rate, it could also slow things down. Or a spring, stretched to its limit, would suddenly spring back… or snap.

The hand wasn't a place to touch casually, especially a woman's hand, and kissing it… this caused a lot of misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

[Manager, I agree.]

The AI held X close. She tucked the black recorder into X's collar. It was icy cold.

"Huh, agree to what?"

X was still confused. And the recorder in her collar was uncomfortable, strange.

[The water's cold. Please wait. I need to adjust the water temperature.]

The AI was adjusting the bathtub water. It had grown cold due to the delay. Now, the Secretary was reheating the water.

She was probably… preparing to help X bathe.