Part 15: Day 7 - Gameplay
Day 7: Gameplay
The loading screen changes as we proceed through the game, showing us all the departments we currently have access to. Another neat little touch.
We've outfitted Talow with the new suit, Bishop/Mizu are getting the new guns since their Justice is high, and D.A.D. gets Mizu's old hammer and Talow's old suit. This should be fine for the day.
It's time. Remember to follow the protocols.
Ma'am, where's your E.G.O suit?
I couldn't get in my locker this morning. But I don't need to worry about that, because this is probably a dream!
Try pinching yourself.
Ow! ...Okay, this might be a little bad.
Does that mean you're not going to be running off to meet the new Abnormality right away, then?
...Mizu?
Our new Abnormality is another one that deals Black damage. As a reminder, the base suit has a 1.5x weakness to Black damage. On top of that, it's a ZAYIN suit and the Abnormality is a HE, so Mizu's taking another 1.2x damage on top of it.
What a good girl! 
It turns out we didn't need to worry. Her second work goes just as well.
This is A Wee Witch,
a good girl who has done nothing wrong in her life. Her damage is very low for a HE abnormality, she likes Attachment and can work well with Insight and Instinct, and an Agent at 3/3/3 or better in their first three stats can work her relatively safely without a suit in order to take a lot of damage but not have any real chance of dying. Whenever we have an Agent in the right range, I'm going to have to consider having them work with her in their default suit.
Whichever work we do with A Wee Witch, Witch Work plays, which A Wee Witch will wiggle to. Working A Wee Witch again while Witch Work plays will play Witch Work again, which will stack with the Witch Work we already were hearing. It's weird.
Orders from the top, everyone!
The meltdown makes me remember that the Control Team exists, and I quickly throw everyone to work with whatever the mirror made their lowest stat-Bishop is with One Sin on Insight work, Tylana is working with Forsaken Murderer on Instinct, and Mr.Black is off to repress 1.76 MHz.
Oh, hey, it looks like the Amber Dawns want a rematch today.
At our current rate of gathering energy, we could completely bypass them.
And why would I do that?
It's The Perfect Food again. Feeling co*cky, I send just Mizu in to deal with them.
Guns make actually hitting these things a lot easier, though the 2-3 damage we're doing per hit means we'll need at least 12 hits to kill one of these things, and more likely need 14 or more. Realizing that this won't work well, I call in Talow and D.A.D. to help.
Hey guys!
You okay? You look half dead.
Ehh
little over a quarter dead, I'd say. I'll leave it to you!
Mizu flees the scene while I let D.A.D. and Talow mop up. It's at this point that I zoom out to see where the other pod spawned in, and
Oh, hell. The Agent AI in this game has a lot of quirks to it, and understanding how it works is important to keeping people alive. Mr.Black was working with 1.76 when the Ordeal spawned in, and they spawned right outside his corridor. If an Agent is not given any other orders, and anything that can be suppressed is in a room they're inside of, their AI immediately changes to 
mode. While I was busy making sure the Information Team's group of worms died Mr.Black finished his work, stepped outside, saw the Ordeals, and attempted to engage them alone. A reminder that Mr.Black is too slow to actually hit them with his weapon.
I order Mr.Black to get back to the main room immediately, and he escapes by the skin of his teeth. This facility's Agents are much bulkier on the whole than a normal first loop would have, and we still would have probably lost Mr.Black if I'd noticed even 3 seconds later.
Dawn Ordeals may be an absolute joke later, but in the beginning we have to make sure to stay on top of them.
Laughing isn't going to keep your insides inside right now! You need to rest!
But I was so close..! Another moment, and I would have landed a hit! Haha..!
No talking. Just rest now, smiles.
The worms hop over next to Information not long after, and since Mizu is the first one in the room she's the one they all attack.
We have to pull her back, but the worms can't hold a candle to us anymore. Now that that's over, let's unlock the rest of A Wee Witch's info.
Laetitia is the first of several Abnormalities whose names actually change based on observation level. Name changes like this most commonly happen at observation level 3, though Laetitia's happens at level 4. She does not escape, and only does anything on a Normal result-something we still haven't seen because her success ranges are generous. In order to try and get it to show up, I have D.A.D. try doing Insight work with Laetitia, since they can tank the damage easily.
Kid snuck a present into my pocket on the way out. She must be really shy.
Hm
so the tips say working with another abnormality would be bad now. We'll have D.A.D. stick with Laetitia the rest of the day, then.
Manager
Whenever you use that tone, it's bad news. What's going on?
You forgot 1.76 MHz. Again.
By the time I notice it and pause, there are only 8 seconds left on the timer. Speed is more important than anything now, so I throw Bishop at the problem and hope he's quick enough to make the distance in the time I have left. One day I will stop being so careless, I swear.
You're cutting it close, Bishop!
Relax, boss!
Showing up at the last minute for the save is what I do. 
Today's Shy Look is having a meltdown, Talow is working with Laetitia, and Mizu is in a normal suit
D.A.D, get on it.
Are you a goldfish, manager?
I wanna say
nnnno?
Read the management protocols for Laetitia again. I'll wait.
Huh? What do you mmm-
-mmmmmhm. I'll cancel that and send Mizu, then.
I thought so.
I swear I'm good at this game. 
Luckily, Mizu is more than able to deal with TSL so long as it isn't on the worst face so she doesn't die.
Job's done
Oh, hey! Same hat!
Same ha-Mizu what the hell?! 
When I finished working, Today's Shy Look gave me this mask. It smells like jerky. Neat, huh?
Yeah
Neat
Enough talk, you two. We're done for the day. Let's get this information compiled and ready for tomorrow.
Yes sir!
Nothing else really happens, so once I'm done grabbing Laetitia's gear I call it a day.
I do want to call attention to our promotions page for once, just to point a few things out. First, we have our first rank 5 Agent! This is incredibly early, and her raw stats will let us power through any of the Dawn Ordeals so long as I equip her well. Secondly, the entire staff was promoted today! 
(Mr.Black's mirror trip turned him from a level 2 into a level 3 to start with, but I'm still counting it even if the game won't.) Finally, just keep in mind D.A.D.'s Prudence. It'll be important for next time.
Music: never frozen bottom flows
F-02-49: With my infinite hatred, I give you this gift.
O-03-60: You see a song in front of you. It's approaching, becoming more colorful by the second.
O-04-08: The girl begged in tears. "Mister, please cut off my feet
"
Ah, here we go. This is more like a Lobotomy Corporation choice. While every other day so far had either an obvious winner or multiple good options, today everything is just 
. We'll start with -49, a very festive HE Abnormality. It's main selling point is that it gives out a good number of suits and weapons, and it can breach. Next is -60, a TETH. It's showing up to the party a little bit late to be useful for anything beyond being able to breach. Finally, there's -08. It doesn't breach, but is highly temperamental and tries to force your agents to kill each other.
Right now, we only have one Abnormality capable of breaching. I really want us to have four of them ASAP, so -08 is out. Between -60 and -49 the choice becomes simple.
Unless it will destroy the facility, we always want the highest level Abnormality we can get.
Next time, on Lobotomy Corporation: Angela poses a hypothetical moral dilemma.
New Guidelines
Laetitia
New Gear
Requirements: Temperance 2
Requirements: Level 3
New Story
Laetitia
