171. ImpulseWorks Site Workers

An array of footsteps rapidly approached. The thick steel doors were raised open as 5 black-suited personnel flooded the room. It was a small mix of individuals with polarizing personalities.

Where one smiled and gave a small, cheerful wave, another just glared in their direction, and one tried to subtly hide themselves between the shoulders of their associates.

Worker
< Level 5 >

Soul Rank: Blue | Atelier: ImpulseWorks

LEVEL : 50     ORIGIN : X     HP : 520     ATT : X     MAG ATT : X
ATT DEF : X     MAG DEF : X     MP : X     RESIST : 25     AGI : X

Their stats were abysmal as far as Atelier personnel were concerned. All combat stats were lower than a thousand. They turn into dust if Frost so happened to sneeze in their direction.

They assumed a formal stance just across their small coffee table, taking guard as they eyed Frost and her companions from head to toe. From the moment they first arrived the Workers sensed that these people were higher along the chains of commands.

The cheerful girl then introduced herself with a small hop.

“We’re here to stay on guard until we get new orders! Please don’t stand up or we’ll have to use force, ok~!” The woman, who hid her bunny ears hopped onto her other foot, striking a fabulous pose that instantly caused her associates to awkwardly straighten their ties and clear their throats.

It was made clear that they weren’t supposed to speak to them.

Or at least keep it to a minimum. Frost found it amusing to find normal people in the most abnormal of places. Both groups exchanged inquisitive looks, trying to gauge each other’s capabilities. They were not aware of their identities just yet, but neither did they underestimate them.

The Demi-humans of the group were able to sniff out their unreachable strengths and immediately shifted their gaze to the wall. The frustrated triplets’ gaze felt like a beast was breathing down their necks.

“No violent intent here. Rest assured. We were sent here to help.” Frost spoke professionally to the group, glancing at the triplets that looked like they were on the verge of strangling them.

They’re normal. Completely normal. They all look human as well. The bunny girl has her ears slicked back. Hey Nav, two of them are half-breeds. What are they?

“The result of interhuman breeding. Fertilized by war and violence. Aquatids, Elves, Insectid to a degree result in a half-breed. Like Demi-humans, they are the lowest denominators on Elysia. Where Grandis has issues with Demi-humans, various sections of Emvita despises half-breeds. One such kingdom is the Empyrean Rise, who endlessly fight the Zelmori Fall; the Demons.”

And ImpulseWorks uses these people to work with captured Corrupted? Because they’re expendable?

“You thought parallels with the others. Expendable is the closest answer we have.”

Frost remained composed. The nature of their work was to be determined, but the fact that they used these people for what she believed to be the most dangerous job in nothing, but suits of all things frustrated her.

There was a severe lack of compassion, and she could not see ImpulseWork’s ways as anything other than ruthless for the sake of harvesting Corrupted material and generating Nex.

The very moment she arrived Nav made her aware that she was steadily accumulating Nex. It wasn’t anything substantial, but it was far more than what she could harvest from normal, living beings.

There were Corrupted present.

She realized that this fluctuation in Nex could allow her to detect Corrupted before the warnings. Of course, this was all done by Nav because she wouldn’t even know how to calculate it on the fly.

“Yeah. Keep looking at the walls. Don’t even look back. Cowards.” Cer hissed, challenging the Workers with furious eyes.

“Shh. Cer. Calm down.” Jury motherly urged, taking a hold of her hand to comfort her.

“Jesters this. Jesters that… We even believed them after all this time. We knew something was weird from the start, but they kept telling us ‘Oh no, the silly Jesters don’t know what they’re talking about’. Fuck them. For making us believe them when we should have known better.” Cer gripped onto Jury’s hand as her sisters instantly squashed themselves against her.

“It’s ok Cer. We’re right here.” Ber and Res made their presence known to calm her.

Frost cleared her throat and spoke again.

“May I ask you all a few questions?”

“Go right ahead –!” The bunny-eared girl was instantly struck on the head by a paper fan. It was a hard, striking hit, and despite it being made from paper, it had a strange, concussive effect that caused her to wobble as if drunk.

Morally High Fanner

< Handheld fan once waved by a princess who assumed the moral throne >

ORIGIN : Princesstral      AFFINITY : Judgement | Righteousness      TYPE : Weapon
ATT : 0      MAG ATT : 0

EFFECT: Inflict Confusion stacks onto target

< Maximum of 2 May Exist >

The perpetrator was another woman. A Half-breed from what appeared to be an Aquatid due to the gill-like slashes by her ribs.

“Will all due respect, we cannot share information until we have clearance. We’re aware you’re here to replace the Scarlet Logic Dawn Teams. We just need the confirmation –!” Suddenly, the woman was cut short as all 5 of the Workers winced, with one instantly ripping out an earpiece shaped like a tiny, metal kidney.

Cognition Receiver

CogitO

< Allows for remote telepathic communication with a Cognition Transmitter >

The information dump left Frost bewildered as the Workers instantly regained their composure, a few cursing out:

“Fucking temporary Navigator.”

“She’s going to get everyone in this Site killed if she keeps screaming over every little thing.”

“I feel bad for the Overseer that has to work with her.”

They scowled, some showing pity towards the voice that screamed through the earpiece. Frost figured she’d get more information from someone else soon enough, but even so, her inquisitive nature could not allow her to sit still.

“The Navigator speaks to you through the Cognition Receivers, right? Is something happening right now?” She asked.

“Someone was probably eaten again.” One said casually, almost jokingly. The mood instantly soured as the bunny-woman dejectedly rubbed her arms, all the while the others just stood there, shaking their heads. “Turned to paste. Ran along the walls and spread thin. Pick your poison.”

“And you accept that?” Frost leaned forward, speaking deeply as her gaze penetrated their hearts.

“… Respectfully speaking, that’s the price of our paradise.” A man refused to speak any further, despite their mouth remaining wide open.

‘A human wouldn’t understand’. That’s what I’m getting from them. And they’re right. ImpulseWorks gives them a place to call home, but in exchange, they work with the Corrupted… Fucking hell. Scarlet Logic does the same thing. Hell, which Atelier doesn’t scrape people from the streets to do their bidding?

“You realize the Nexus does the same thing? I’m more inclined to call it salvation.” Nav argued.

Carpalis said something like that, didn’t she… Salvation by invigorating desires? I don’t see it. At all.

They unanimously gulped as Frost’s gaze nearly inflicted them with Scrutiny. She tried to wrap her mind around this bizarre world of horrors as Jury pondered the situation alongside her. Death was evidently normal to them. Or they were at least used to it, like the triplets…

No. Like the Demi-humans they rescued from Grandis. Perhaps it was this quality, or flaw, which allowed them to work with the Corrupted in the first place. What this work entailed was up in the air, but there was one thing that caught her attention more than anything else.

She took a biscuit and nibbled the corners.

Judgement. Righteousness. I don’t understand that Affinity. Are they one the same? Or a subsection of Judgement?

“Righteousness may be what they call the Judgement Affinity. They don’t know Affinities themselves, but they may have been categorizing the Corrupted.”

How? What clues even let them get close to understanding a Corrupted’s Affinity? I thought no one knew about them.

“You’re not wrong. But you severely underestimate the Ateliers. ImpulseWorks has been around for more than a few centuries. I’d be worried if they couldn’t at least categorize the Corrupted.”

… I guess time will tell.

“Jury or time itself?”

Whichever one comes first.

Frost took a sip from the piping-hot tea, which was a little more than lukewarm to her. Afterwards, she erected her posture and simply enjoyed the snacks alongside Ignis and Jury.

Eventually, the Workers glanced over at Snap, wondering if it was a tamed pet or something else entirely.

“Interested in our friend?” Frost hummed.

“Yep! Question! Is that an Anid or a Corrupted you’re delivering!?” The bunny girl hopped as she prevalently asked, raising a hand which then pointed straight for Snap.

“Anid. It’s a close friend.” Frost said as Ignis happily nodded.

“Snap’s a wonderful companion.” Jury assured.

“Brrrr. Bzzzt.” Snap purred, rolling itself into a ball in the corner of the room.

“It purrs!? Question! Can I pet it!?” The bunny girl enthusiastically hopped.

Eccentric failed to properly describe her. She was the living embodiment of excitement and Frost questioned if this was her personality or if she was under the influence of something. With how normalized death was, it wouldn’t be a surprise if personnel required some mind-altering technology that censored it.

Rather, she expected them to wear Cognition Filters… but none of them did as far as she could tell. The same metal studs that D-13 and Wayfarer wore on the rims of their ears were nowhere to be found.

“Of course. But that’s only if Snap agrees.” Frost smiled at her, thankful that at least one of them was talkative.

“Brrrrrr!” Snap said, shivering as Jury chuckled.

“Snap says yes.” Jury also understood the language of ‘Snap’. As did Ignis.

The triplets on the other hand looked over to Snap with a perplexed look.

“We’re Blessed. So how come we can’t understand this furball?” Cer growled, reaching over the chair to poke at Snap. “C’mon. Do something.”

The bunny woman hopped in delight and was about to make her way across the room until they received a sudden transmission, evident by their suddenly focused faces.

“The Overseer and Navigator are arriving. Cleanup on the 3rd Level, west wing. G-V-055-06 minced another uncareful idiot. Employees can’t get anywhere near it.” One said, shaking their head.

“Should have left the Vigor ones to us. I guess that confirms it is Vigor-based. Like we’ve always said, but the Overseer wants to be thorough for no good reason.” Another sighed, right before they nodded at Frost, suddenly smiling at her. “Sorry for taking up your time. Surprising to see a Color. And a healer. Finally, we actually managed to get someone capable.”

“We look forward seeing you down there. Everyone. 30 minutes. We have time to decompress.” With that said, they all left for the door as the bunny girl dejectedly followed, hesitating at first.

Jury blocked her way with her tail as Snap rolled over, offering her to pet it.

“Hehehe… Thank you~! Let me give you a biiiiiiig hug!” She leapt into Snap’s body and before they knew it, she disappeared into the cloud of gold, never to be seen again.

That was until she appeared from the other side where she crashed against a glass table, shattering it.

“H-Hey. Are you ok?” Frost rushed to her as she sat up, knocking against her skull.

“Sorry~ I didn’t know your friend was softer than a cloud!” She laughed, hopping right back up as Frost flash-healed her. “Thank you! We’ll be seeing you all very soon! I hope you enjoy this place as much as we do!”

She took both of Frost’s hands and shook them like an exuberant child. Then, she did the same to the others, including the triplets who realized this woman wasn’t as bad as they initially thought.

The doors opened wide as one of her associates called for her to hurry up, and with a final hop, she disappeared.

“What a character, huh. She’s pretty fun.” Frost commented, adoring the bunny woman.

“Mhm! I wonder if she’ll be ok.” Jury was a little worried considering the nature of this place.

“She’ll be fine. She’ll be fine.” Cer began as she climbed onto their table, rattling the tea sets and plates of goodies. She spat in her hands and rubbed them together, assuming the position an Olympic swimmer took before they dove into water.

“Uh. Cer?” Frost questioned her intent.

“Cer!?” Res shouted.

“So that’s how it is, huh Snap? Your ball form is how you eat. Guess I’ll help myself too!” Cer dove straight for Snap with perfect form, taking advantage of the opportunity to finally enter its body.

But Snap simply teleported out of her way. She was left on an impending path straight for the shattered glass table. It was like watching a car crash. None were able to intervene, nor pull their eyes away. They were glued onto Cer from start to finish as she crashed straight into the glass shards and rolled right into the opposing couch like a fuzzy bowling ball.

“S-Snap! The hell!? You betrayed me!” She yelled, laying upside down with her legs hanging over her head.

And then, the metal doors opened, revealing the Receptionists and two individuals that were left flabbergasted by the sight.

These two were none other than the Overseer and the Navigator of F-H5.

“FUCK! LOOK AT WHAT THEY DID TO ME! AGGGGH!” Cer suddenly exclaimed, pinning the blame on the Workers.

Frost, as frustrated as she was, could not help but admire Cer’s audacity and desperately hid a laugh.

Res on the other hand politely approached Cer and placed a hand over her face like a mask.

“R-Res… what’s with that look? Hey? Why aren’t you saying anything? It’s not like it’s my fault, right? Res?”

“You’re right. It’s not your fault.” Res ominously uttered.

“S-So help me out – Ouch. Ouch. You’re squeezing my head. It’s gonna pop!”

“There’s something wrong with your brain.”

“Ouch – Ow, ow – OW –!?”

“So stay still like the good sister you are and let me fix that brain of yours. Mhm. That’s the problem.”

Needless to say, Cer received a healthy dose of electric therapy.