Lobotomy Corporation but with Simulation System?

[█, which pillowcase do you like? I think this one's pretty good, it's so cute! And they're a pair, let's choose this one!]

...

Where is this?

X heard someone speaking next to her ear again. She remembered that she couldn't hear their name clearly, and the voice was indistinct.

It's… like… the person from last time?

X vaguely remembered. Although people usually forget their dreams after waking up, X didn't know why she could vaguely remember something.

She still couldn't see her surroundings. X couldn't see who was talking to her, nor could she see where she was.

There was no light, just pure black, only sound.

If the person hadn't held X's hand, if she couldn't feel the other person's touch, X would have suspected that it was a recording playing a pre-recorded audio.

[█, don't be so dazed. Let's decorate the room! This is my closet, and this is yours. Oh, which side do you prefer? I think these photos are more suitable here.]

[Hm? Which photos? Of course, it's you. It was hard to take them, haha. Don't worry, █, I didn't show anyone the photos of you secretly licking the cake. Oh, I haven't seen you this happy in a long time.]

X heard the person speaking. She started to place her weight on X's shoulders. X could feel the weight on her shoulders… it wasn't heavy. She was certain it was a woman.

Perhaps intentionally, perhaps unintentionally, she was being pressed down by that person.

X had thought she would feel a hard surface, but she felt a soft surface beneath her… It must be a bed, a soft large bed. The mattress had good elasticity and softness. Lying down was very comfortable, there was a feeling of relaxation.

[It's so comfortable. Why don't we take a nap first? Oh, that's settled then, █. Let's take a nap before we decorate the room.]

X felt the person hugging her, like a body pillow, very close, and warm…

It was so warm, she really didn't want to move.

Then… a nap?

Just… a short nap.

Just as X was about to fall asleep, she felt herself being rubbed against. It was the person hugging her.

They must be kissing her… X wasn't sure, but she felt softness and warmth…

… She didn't dislike it, she didn't feel any aversion.

But she was very sleepy, very sleepy. She just wanted to have a good sleep. But the person who had suggested the nap seemed to be full of energy and didn't want to simply sleep.

X heard the sound of the curtains being drawn. Perhaps they felt that the midday sun was too bright.

Although it made no difference to X, she couldn't see anything. It was just a chaotic darkness. Whether it was daytime or nighttime, whether the lights were on or off, it was the same to a blind person.

X found a pillow and rested her head on the soft pillow, also dragging a small blanket. She was really ready to take a nap. Just as X felt herself drifting off, the person next to her suddenly hugged her from behind, preventing her from sleeping properly.

That person spoke into her ear. Their tone was cheerful and excited.

[█, this is our shared bedroom. We'll be sleeping together from now on!]

Hmm… okay, okay, shared bedroom, sleeping together, sleeping together.

X thought drowsily, just wanting to cover her head with a pillow and have a good sleep.

As for who that person was, and why they kept calling her by the wrong name, X was too lazy to think about it.

That person was like a warm stove, making X feel very hot. She even took off the blanket she had been using, just wanting to cool down a little.

It was air-conditioned, why was it so hot? Was the air conditioning broken…?

Drowsily, X couldn't think clearly.

She fell asleep.

...

[Manager, did you have trouble sleeping last night? You don't look very well.]

X was woken by her AI Secretary. The new alarm clock on her bedside table had unfortunately sacrificed itself for duty this morning, shattering into a pile of parts on the floor.

To be honest, even after splashing cold water on her face, X still felt hazy and not fully awake.

And as for the Secretary's concern, she could only shake her head to indicate that she was fine.

X was certain that she hadn't had trouble sleeping. Her sleep quality was always very good. Her daily work was very tiring, and after getting tired, she could fall asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. How could she have trouble sleeping? If anything, it should have been the opposite— she would have been even sleepier the more she slept.

She clearly felt like she had slept, why did she still feel like she hadn't slept enough, why was she so tired?

She probably had some bad sleep habits, or her sleeping posture was wrong… It was said that bad sleep habits and sleeping postures could affect sleep quality, leading to more sleepiness.

Sleeping posture was indeed very important…

But even if she felt she hadn't slept enough, she couldn't oversleep. Managers couldn't be late, and they couldn't ask for leave.

Lobotomy Corp didn't have sick leave. There was only paid leave.

If you wanted to ask why, you could only ask what was written in the contract… To be honest, X was even skeptical about the existence of paid leave. She didn't think there could be any vacation time here. There was no sunlight, how could they let people go out?

Here, it seemed to be a completely closed-off management system…

Raising a cup of hot milk, X sighed at the difficulties of life. Only the sweetness of the milk could comfort her slightly.

X took small sips of the slightly hot milk. Even though it burned her mouth, she still drank it while it was hot.

The sweet and bubbly sensation made her feel much better. Her previously hazy and sluggish mind began to work again.

X had a severe drop in blood pressure. It wasn't just a slight problem… it was a serious drop in blood pressure.

There could be many reasons for a drop in blood pressure, such as excessive stress, imbalanced nervous system regulation, insufficient nutrition, or side effects from medication.

In short, it wasn't usually caused by a single factor. Multiple problems combined to create a chain reaction.

Every morning when she woke up, X was always hazy, sluggish, with cold hands and feet. It would take a while before she could fully wake up.

The Secretary had noticed this, so she had prepared a cup of sweet hot milk instead of bitter coffee.

After licking the last drop of milk from her lips, X finally entered a working state, ready to start her breakfast.

Today's breakfast was different from usual. She usually quickly ate fast food, sandwiches, or toast. But today, it was rice and soup.

A bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, a beautifully cooked piece of mackerel, a peeled hard-boiled egg, and a small dish of wakame seaweed.

Perhaps it was a special adjustment made for X's dietary habits, or perhaps the AI had suddenly become interested in these things.

Could an AI be interested in cookbooks?

X didn't care whether it was fast food from an assembly line, food made by a chef, or food made by the AI itself. For X, it made no difference—

As long as it tasted good and filled her stomach. She was tired of eating sandwiches. It was great to change her taste sometimes.

During the meal, X was quiet. She quietly ate her breakfast and listened to her AI Secretary speak.

She was probably encouraging her… but many times, X couldn't be sure whether the AI Secretary was genuinely complimenting her, or being sarcastic.

It was very difficult to tell from her tone. Most of the time, the AI Secretary maintained the same expression.

A woman's mind was really hard to read, even an AI's. Hadn't the Corporation's AI been designed with a cat's personality in mind? At least in terms of temperament, they were the same.

If you could guess a cat's mind, you could probably guess what an AI was thinking.

X thought carelessly, struggling to control her chopsticks. Finally, she picked up a piece of tofu from the miso soup and calmly put it in her mouth.

[Manager, the Corporation's energy levels are steadily increasing. You have proven your abilities.]

[The top executives of Lobotomy Corp are paying close attention to you, 'A' is among them.]

The Secretary spoke calmly, and X was equally calm. She was focused on her breakfast. She had already pierced the hard-boiled egg with her chopsticks. The runny yolk was a bright, tempting color, making her want to eat it.

But soon, her calm was broken.

[Manager, do you understand 'A'?]

The AI suddenly asked X this question. Because she had been called out, X had to lick the rice grains from her lips before looking up at her Secretary.

—Looking at the other person when answering a question was basic politeness.

"Oh, well… To be honest, Angela, 'A' is very mysterious. I've only heard about her in your brief mentions."

X answered properly. She couldn't speak ill of her boss in front of the Secretary.

—To be honest, she suspected that A was a "two-dimensional AI enthusiast,". She was quite neurotic. But X felt that these words couldn't be spoken.

If she said it, her career as Manager would be over…

The AI Secretary seemed not to have expected X to give an answer and quickly answered for her.

[She is our pioneer. She was the first to sow seeds on barren and uninhabited land. I think she will meet you personally soon. If that happens, then your pursuit will come true.]

Her voice was full of respect. As usual, the AI Secretary praised A's greatness, extolling A's great achievements. X had heard this many times, like the AI's frequently used "A's" teachings.

Face the fear, Build the future. This was A's teaching and also Lobotomy Corp's advertising slogan.

Every day at work, X would see that slogan, and it would always be projected in the office.

And from those small details, she could sense A's influence on Lobotomy Corp in every aspect.

Even in X's bedroom, she could see that slogan, "Face fear and create the future," on the calendar on the wall.

Even without intentionally memorizing it, seeing and hearing it constantly, she couldn't help but remember it.

"Angela, you must really admire A."

X said casually, her chopsticks piercing the mackerel, trying to remove the golden-brown fried fish.

But the AI paused. It paused for a rare moment before answering.

[Me? Of course, I admire her. But to be fair, although she created me, she's still a mysterious person. Only a few people can understand her.]

[In fact, it's as difficult to fully understand a human as it is to fully understand an AI. Will there ever be a day when I can fully understand you?]

The AI closed her eyes, speaking calmly. But there was a vague sense of sadness. X sensed this low mood, but she couldn't understand it.

An AI's mood was like a cat's. And a woman's mood changes faster than you could turn a page.

X also wanted to say that it was as difficult to fully understand an AI as it was to fully understand a human. Would there ever be a day when someone could fully understand an AI?

But X didn't dare to mimic Angela's tone. Doing so would definitely get her fired.

Besides, she still had to coax the AI Secretary. She, as Manager, had to liven up the atmosphere, dispel the chill from the central air conditioning.

"Oh, Angela, do you understand what I mean…?"

X held up her empty rice bowl. The bowl was clean, without a single grain of rice left.

[You mean… another bowl of rice?]

The AI slightly raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, that's right. You understood perfectly. Understanding humans isn't difficult at all."

X patted her stomach, demonstrating the excellent nonverbal communication skills of a primate. Understanding someone's meaning could be done just by observing their body language.

Although, it was more convenient to just say it directly.

X got her second breakfast: pan-fried dumplings and rice. The rice was the main dish, and the pan-fried dumplings were a side dish.

X didn't know if she had amused Angela. AIs were difficult to make laugh. A little bit of humor wasn't enough to make an AI laugh.

But Angela's mood seemed to have improved slightly, didn't it?

Although she didn't know what problems existed between Angela and her creator, 'A,' X felt it wasn't appropriate for her to pry into her superior's gossip… even though she had sensed something different in Angela's tone.

She had originally thought that the AI's feelings for 'A' were a kind of admiration, and that their relationship must be very good. But judging from what she had seen… a question mark needed to be added.

If their relationship was really that good, why hadn't 'A' ever checked on the AI she had painstakingly designed, even just through a projection? For several days, X hadn't seen the Corporation's leader, 'A,' show any concern for Angela's work.

Angela had only mentioned 'A's' concern for 'X,' setting herself aside, repeatedly emphasizing that she was a machine.

Apart from Angela, none of the Corporation's AIs constantly emphasized that they were machines. They were like humans, their thinking patterns were similar to humans.

X didn't quite understand why Angela repeatedly emphasized that she was a "machine." But perhaps, it was a manifestation of some kind of psychological darkness? Like Yesod, who always covered herself tightly, hallucinating that she had a skin disease.

Was the AI Secretary trying to deny her own intelligence…? Her own existence…?