There was more hubbub in the mess hall than usual, around the table where he hung out, and as it turned out, it was not exactly out of nowhere. Alphonse himself was still a little taken off guard.
"I mean…what do you want me to say?" Isabel remarked, scratching at the back of her head. "I…read up on this in the agent work manual, but I never thought it'd be like this."
"I didn't get told any of this sh*t,period." Alphonse said and he couldn't help but keep his gaze locked on her head. "Damn near gave me a heart attack when I saw that."
The thing in question that grabbed his attention and that of pretty much every agent in the room to some degree was a new feature that set her apart from every other employee in the facility. A pair of sheep horns growing on her head, right above her ears and curving up.
"Damn near gavemea heart attack when you told me about them!" Isabel remarked as she looked down at her plate with a slightly glum expression. "It was almost like they'd always been there all along, I didn't evenrealize.Thank goodness it happened so close to the end of the workday, I'm not sure how I'd have handled it otherwise."
"Well…at least it makes you look cute?" One employee called out from the sidelines. "I think there's a subset of people into horns and-"
"Ew!No! They're weirdos!" Isabel shot back at whoever said that. "They're the same kind who spend way too much time looking at pictures on the net and saying things abouthandlebars! Gross!"
Alphonse would have choked on water had he been drinking, but since he wasn't he just threw his head back and started chortling.
"There there, at least you're outspoken enough that they'll know you will judge them for their sins and for their browsing history." Alphonse waved a hand while trying to keep his laughter down.
As it died down, he shook his head. That was the first honest laugh he'd had in this godforsaken place wasn't it?
His mood didn't sour due to the realization, fortunately, while Isabel just groaned.
'Would rathernot have knownthat there are those kinds of degenerates." She grouched and sighed. "Still, I didn't really think that these…E.G.O Gifts would be this intrusive. You think this is going to cause me trouble whenever I go out on the street?"
"...there'll be some glances, but I think you can live comfortably." Yum-Yum spoke up while looking at the girl's horns. "I mean, if you started growing a fleece and hooves, then you'd probably get treated like one of the old G Corp's soldiers…"
"As I understand it…" Arang took a moment as he looked at Isabel. "R Crop has…some of its forces undergo a procedure to graft antlers onto their heads. The Reindeer Team I believe was their name."
"Ah, well…I guess I'll live, then." Isabel remarked as she rubbed her fingers against the tip of her horns. "As long as they don't start growing and curving inwards, into my face."
There were a few grimaces and winces but the mood didn't otherwise drop.
After deeming Arang fit to take over for Isabel in the Information Team as the veteran agent who had enough experience to take on their resident HE Abnormality, he decided to transfer her to the Safety Team. She had enough of a handle on things to deal with that insidious little sheep. He had considered doing the same with the Training team, putting Yum-Yum there as the senior agent in charge, but he ended up not doing that; there wasn't that much of a point, given they'd ended up with Matchstick there and it was hard to f*ck up work with her.
But still, what really drew the eye was the incident. As they had their lunch break and the crowd thinned, he couldn't help but steal glances at Isabel and her horns…E.G.O Gifts…E.G.O…what even was that?
"Boss, you're making me a little uncomfortable here…" Isabel said as she glanced at him with a grimace.
"Sorry, it's just…" Alphonse sighed and looked away. "What evenisup with E.G.O Gifts, weapons and suits? I mean, I understand that they all come from the Abnormalities, but other than that…"
"It strikes me as odd how little you seem to know about them." Arang remarked with a raised brow. "Have you truly not been given any sort of explanation on the matter?"
"Nada. None. Nothing." He said as he looked over at the agent, crossing his arms. "It drives me up a wall to be kept in the dark about things that are apparently commonly known to the employees and so does getting jumpscared by that information becoming relevant out of nowhere."
"I see…at this rate…" Arang seemed to think about the matter, then shook his head, "No, I was thinking about perhaps lending you my copy of the employee handbook, but the way things are, this entire thing must be deliberate; you'll have to forgive me for being reluctant to give it to you."
"Forgiven, and frankly, it only figures…" Alphonse remarked with a grumble. "Although…what's it even like, using E.G.O? And having a Gift?"
"Using E.G.O's like…" Yum-Yum spoke up, stopping and looking off to the side with a pensive expression for a while.
The other employees didn't really say anything either, but fortunately, the man just rolled his hand and then leaned closer.
"So you know how I told you about my brother being a Fixer, yeah?" The man said, looking at Alphonse as he nodded. "Well, he taught me a thing or two about fighting. Nothing exhaustive, mind you, he didn't want me getting in that line of work, but enough to take care of myself and get an opening to run away if trouble came around."
Yum-Yum looked between the other two agents and asked. "Neither of you get mixed up with a rough crowd? Did any sort of fighting?"
"I mean, I didn't join a Syndicate or anything, but I've had to fight off Rats a couple times." Isabel said as she tilted her head.
"I took some martial arts classes when I was twelve from some guy who said he was in the Liu Association." Arang answered with a raised brow. "That's nowhere close to what you're talking about."
"Yeah. Also that guy was definitely a phony." Yum-Yum remarked with a roll of his eyes. "Still, I think this does get the point I wanted to get across, none of us are, like...actuallygoodat fighting. No offense, you guys, but I think you'd flunk the Fixer certification exams."
While Arang was agreeing with that and Isabel was grouching and complaining, Alphonse was just struck with a thought.
"Wait, but…how're you dealing with Suppressions, then?" He asked, kind of stunned by what Yum-Yum was putting forward. "Mind you, I'm not actually allowed to see how that looks properly, but still…"
"You caught on; that's what I wanted to get at." Yum-Yum nodded once. "E.G.O is how amateurs like us can fight. I don't knowhowit works, but the second we get our hands on them…we justknowhow we're supposed to use the weapons, how to properly fight to the best of our abilities, how to not stumble around, how…everything is supposed to be. I guess."
"What, just…" Alphonse snapped his fingers. "Like that?"
"Yeah," Yum-Yum mimicked the motion. "Like that. More so with the weapons than with the suits, but...yeah, it just works out like that. The handbook doesn't say anything more about how it functions, just that it does."
"Yeah, that's fair…" Alphonse sighed. "Still…what about Gifts? What's the handbook say?"
"Not that much, either," Isabel remarked with a shrug. "It says that there are…things that the Abnormalities can give us, which can have positive effects on us, just like that. Doesn't elaborate on what effects, doesn't say anything about any criteria, it's just…I guess an occupational hazard that we didn't get told about…" Isabel trailed off for a moment, looking aside. "Is it a hazard if they're supposed to be good though…?" She grumbled right after. "Gah, it's a hazard. No one ever told me I could justgrow hornsworking here."
"It wasn't said in the handbook not even by implication with dodgy language." Arang noted, crossing his arms. "As a matter of fact, the way it was phrased, it implied that all of them were accessories; the handbook mentions that there are Gifts like masks, brooches and glasses, and that…while they may be removed for convenience, there's something of a compulsion to keep them on your person at all times. Nothing about anything altering your body this much."
"Eugh, like…don't get me wrong, it is what it is, but if I end up growing a devil tail and wings or anything of the sort, I'll sue. I swear I'll sue!"
While the agents talked amongst themselves, jokingly bringing up the viability of suing Lobotomy Corporation, Alphonse was just left thinking about the conversation.
Gifts…they could just be given completely unprompted and could do something, much like E.G.O, then. What qualified as an E.G.O Gift? His mind went to the recent past.
Alone, surrounded by corpses in the dark, one shambled closer to him, smelling of ash dust, a flame behind it. She placed something on the floor… "This is my last match."
Was that an E.G.O Gift? It seemed about right. That moment, when he struck the match alight…it was full of warmth and melancholy. It did something to him, having used it up.
But, of course, it wasn't like he still had it. It didn't go with him when time looped back around, he hadn't gone looking or anything, but if there was some kind of compulsion involved with Gifts, he wouldn't have been able to part with with it during his showers or at night or he would have just gotten afeeling, he guessed. But there was none of that.
He wondered, just what exactlywereAbnormalities? How did E.G.O get created? He thought that it could be related to the minds of Abnormalities, somehow, what with the name, but…
"What does E.G.O even stand for?" He murmured.
"Extermination of Geometrical Organ."
Alphonse blinked, realizing that he'd been a bit too wrapped up in his own head. He looked up and between the three agents, but it didn't seem like any of them had said it. As a matter of fact, they were looking behind him.
And so he turned to see someone behind him. Actually, he seemed a little familiar. Silver hair, green eyes, rather soft features. He wasn't an agent and didn't quite look the part of a clerk, either, he looked more like a researcher, wearing dark gray pants, a gray dress shirt, a red tie and a white labcoat. Something justclickedafter a moment, wasn't he the guy who had been staring at him on the first day at the mess hall?
Although caught on the spot, with all attention on him, the man nodded with nary a flinch.
"According to all official records, that is what E.G.O stands for." The man said, his voice soft and boyish, more or less matching what he expected. "I'm given to understand the term has been around for almost as long as the Corporation itself."
"I…see…" Alphonse remarked, slowly looking into his hands. "Extermination of Geometrical Organ…"
He muttered the words a couple of times. On one hand, that kind of threw his theory to the wayside. On the other…that name was…
"That's such a goddamn stupid name." He said aloud.
The employees, along with the silver haired man, looked at him for a moment. The silence was broken by him, however, as he started laughing lightly, followed by the agents.
"I'm not sure what to tell you, I am just a researcher." The man said with a smile as he shrugged his shoulders. "I just happened to overhear you and felt the need to interject."
"Fair is fair is fair." Alphonse sighed, shaking his head. "Anyways, I didn't catch your name, who are you?"
The man laughed with some slight nervousness and shook his head. "I'm employee R-027. Don't mind me, manager. I was simply passing through." he nodded with a smile and bowed slightly. "If you'll excuse me…"
The man left as suddenly as he'd come in. That was a little weird, but at least that answered his question.
