My head burned, most likely from the night before, how I got to my office desk is beyond me though.

"Happy birthday Oliver!" I turned to my left and saw Shina waving over, he wasn't in his usual uniform, so I could only guess that he just got here, and Ao was nowhere to be seen, at least from what I could tell.

"Yeah, thanks, although birthdays don't really mean much at this point..." I got my head up from my desk and stood up "So? Where's Ao? Wasn't he going to celebrate with us?" I reached for a bottle of pills on my desk and took some

"You still on that medication? How long has it been? a year? and you have yet to see any results"

"You don't even know what they're for"

"Still, if you're still taking them..." Shina grabbed his uniform "I'm gonna go change, if Ao comes in tell him to leave me be for now okay? He was just around the corner when I came in" He went off to his side of the office. It felt like the minute Shina finished speaking Ao came in

"Happy birthday Oli!" That nickname made me mad every time I heard it, yet oddly today it felt nice to hear

"Thanks, Ao, so, you celebrating with me and Shina?" I set the pill bottle from earlier back on the desk

"Of course! We had that before party after all! Give me a second or two, and I'll be ready" I know this was reality, but seeing the sharp change in personality of the two of them made my heart feel a ting, I was too used to the dreams I've had, that at this point, if it was an abnormality I wouldn't be surprised, no, I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

"Come on Oliver" Although it was Shina who said that, the two stood beside each other, and just like Ao said, he was ready

"Yeah, let's get going..." The three of us began walking outside, I don't know what it was, but the air, even in this city that's lost its glow years ago, felt nice, more peaceful than normal.

The streets felt a tad off-putting then again, this was a world filled with many horrific creatures and humans alike. The place we were going to was probably a restaurant if I had to guess.

"Oliver, I can guarantee you're gonna love today!" Ao....how did he go from such a druggie to an optimistic person? No...calling my friend a druggie was beyond rude, even if it is true.

"Sure, I'll hold you up on that you know" Even though it was my birthday, we all still had our weapons, we were fixers after all, or more...mercenaries for different corporations. After all, we had to make money in some sort of way... and abnormalities were still out there, even if there is only a small amount, from what I heard at least.

"It'll probably get ruined though...I mean, we're still technically on the clock" Shina was checking his watch, whether it was because some event was going on, or to see how much time until we were off the clock, it didn't matter.

I called it somehow, we arrived at a restaurant and two people were standing outside

"There's the birthday boy!" I knew they looked familiar, it was Tsuki and Taylor with Taylor waving over and calling me over "Come on! I got us reservations!" That explained why Shina checked his watch, although I may still be wrong. Taylor might as well have dragged me with how much he was nudging me in.

"Taylor! I can walk on my own!" He ignored me and continued to nudge me inside. The inside looked nothing like a restaurant, it honestly took me by surprise "W-What is this" The walls reminded me of Lobotomy Corp, and yet, thoughts hit me, no, it couldn't be LC, that thing died, or, was this a different version? Like the one in my dream? The others brought me into an elevator "Hold on! What is this place?"

"You'll see soon enough..."Tsuki spoke in a condescending tone "It's common ground for you at least" Everyone stayed silent after that, including me

When the elevator came to a stop and opened I was greeted by people who looked like agents from a corporation, they had E.G.O gear as well

"Oliver, since it's your birthday, we wanted to ask you if you wanted to join" Taylor walked out of the elevator

"So what? My birthday gift is joining a job with almost guaranteed death?" To me it sounded absolutely stupid, that day when Leo died, was risky and horrific as is, why would I want to join a new one?

"We know how stupid it sounds" Tsuki, I guess somewhat being the voice of reason, kept pushing it "Of course, you don't have to accept, but you were a good, no, great agent, so, you can kinda at least see where we're coming from right?" I'd be lying if I said I didn't, agents and clerks....or as some would call, sacrifices, were necessary for life. Both occupations were needed, clerks to clean and resupply...or be killed to calm other abnormalities down, and agents, to deal with said abnormalities....it was a sick game of back and forth, and yet something compelled me to take them up on this offer.

"I....forget it, fine" As soon as I said that, Ao shoved in my face, an armband with the letter O on it "What is this?"

"Well, I know how Tsuki phrased it, and made it sound like you were being an agent, but we decided beforehand, it'd be best if you were a sephirah, of course, you can still go and deal with abnormalities if you truly want, but you won't have to if you don't want to" Taylor explained it to me, although, I did listen to him, I was more focused on his arm, he didn't have an armband. Taylor must've shortly noticed as he touched his shoulder "Yeah....I don't think I'd be a good one" I snapped back to reality, I forgot, Taylor in the real world was never a sephirah, just a normal agent, hell I don't even remember if he was that.

"I don't mind" I grabbed the armband and tied it to my arm, I looked at it, it felt off, I went from being just a pawn in someone's game of life, and now, I've become one of the higher-ups. "Why is this here anyways?" They all looked at each other

"There are many abnormalities, either new or old that'll listen to orders if they get something in return" Tsuki pulled up a tablet "So we were thinking, if possible, we'll strike the library with abnormalities and humans" It took me off guard, using abnormalities to fight for us? Fighting alongside them? Then again, some abnormalities in the past have fought with us, or fought each other.

"Why are you targeting the library?" I said this, even knowing that I wanted to attack the library, I wanted to get Leo back...no I wanted everyone back, every life I took that day

"Many reasons, some people want revenge for loved ones, some hate the sephirah, some want power or money, and I already know you want to do this" Shina said the last line in a smug tone, he was right, I wanted my revenge.

"Alright then, If things go wrong though...

"It won't" Taylor interrupted me, his normal face went to a more serious one "We've been working with the abnormalities more than you think"

"We've been working on this for ages, even if they go against us we have our ways, let's just say....all of our agents our special" Ao smiled, leaning against the wall next to the elevator

"They're all maxed out in everything?" I said that jokingly, but by everyone's face, I hit the bullseye, stepped out of the elevator

"We don't intend to lose this fight...or as some here called it, a war!" Taylor went back to his joking self, raising his fist as he said war.

"And now that we've got you with us, the odds are more than in our favor, we've had some people go to the library and come back, the invitation never states how many people can go at once, therefore-!"

"We can hit them with numbers, I see, you guys really do intend to win" I began to think, were the fighters in my dream real? Every piece of that nightmare seemed to connect into my real life somehow, and yet I don't remember seeing those kids in my life!

"Come on, let me show you around" Tsuki suggested she be my guide

"We'll meet up with you two later! We've got something to deal with first" The three others ran off, they seemed worried, I had the thought to follow them but, Tsuki was next to me

"We'll go to the department team first!" She began to walk, as I could hear her footsteps behind me, it took a little convincing, but I decided to go with her, spying on the other three guys seemed pointless, and if there was a reason they looked worried, I'd find out later

"Yeah, I'm coming, give me a second" I turned and began to walk beside her, I looked at her arm, blank, it had nothing on it. "You're not being a sephirah either?"

"....No...I'm better at following people than dishing out commands" She seemed hesitant when speaking, I thought she was hiding something but, I decided I wouldn't push any further "So! This is the control department!" There were tons of people, more than you'd usually see in a department "If we wanted to contain stronger, and newer abnormalities, then we'd need more people, does that make sense? Shina says it's costly, but, I think it's fine"

"Yeah, I agree, although it does have more risks when it comes to injuries, although casualties will be cut down" Everyone wore an armband, although I couldn't see what the letter on it was

"I guess that's true" Tsuki fidgeted with her tablet

"Something wrong?"

"Naw, just one of the agents having an issue" She began walking in a certain direction "Let's go handle it, we're veterans after all" Soon we both began sprinting, although I wondered why there wasn't an alarm

"Tsuki! If one of the abnormalities broke out then why isn't there an alarm!"

"Because! An alarm suggests that it's an issue, but just an extra unit can handle it" I guess her logic made some sort of sense, it was weird, but it made sense

"So? What's the abnormality?" She handed me a tablet, the picture resembled that of a human figure, a few details were on it

ID:???

Important details: Agents or clerks with fragile or nearly broken minds will be heavily affected by this abnormality's hallucinations, it is recommended that you wear protective mind gear.

"Protective mind gear?" I looked over at Tsuki

"We don't need it, we're headstrong!" I feel like she misused that word, but what's the point in correcting her

"Alright, if you say so!" We turned the corner and a massive headache took over me, I clenched my head, it felt like it was going to explode

"Oliver?" I almost fell down but Tsuki caught me before that happened "What's wrong?"

"Aghhh, i..Everything hurts!" I continued to grab my head, it felt like I could hear something, I grabbed my rifle and aimed at the noise....It was...the thing that haunted my dreams, the thing that Leo promised to kill, it was here, but why!? Why was it here, this couldn't have been a dream, at least before I could tell that maybe I was dreaming, but now, now nothing felt wrong, this...really was reality! Tsuki looked to where I was aiming, she must've seen it too, but she wasn't in pain like I was...I wasn't headstrong, or whatever Tsuki meant by saying that, Trauma haunted me daily, of course, I wouldn't be okay.

"Damn it, I'm sorry Oliver, I'll handle it, just stay down" She set me down and took out a pistol, although it wasn't an average-looking pistol. The agent that we were called in to help appeared and tried stabbing the abnormality, with a bit of success, then Tsuki fired her gun at it as well, it fired like some sort of railgun

"Wha..t..the?" The abnormality crawled back into its containment and my headache faded away "Tsuki? What was that thing?" Tsuki extended her hand to help me up

"The gun or the abnorm?" She looked at me like I was the weird one

"Both!" I grabbed her hand and she helped me up

"Heh, well the abnorm is pretty simple to explain, it's like the other abnromailtys, we don't know where they all came from" She said it was simple to explain but she just said she doesn't know "The gun was made by the original owner of this place, we found it on his desk" I looked at her, did she just steal this cor- "Of course, we got their permission before they died, we have it with their signature too!"

"ah, well...I guess it's fine then" I looked at the agent from before, he looked tired "Maybe you shouldn't have agents working overtime"

"It's not overtime, they're so invested in the cause of taking out the library that they'll work themselves to death, that's where you come in as the sephirah you'll lead everyone!"

"That sounds like more like a manager position" She looked at the floor

"Yeah...we've kinda changed the way things work, I guess you can say that every department has a sephirah that has the powers of a manager, but only for their department"

"So I was lied to" It kinda pissed me off, I had more responsibilities than what I signed up for

"Sorry, we lied to you, we tried naming the positions in a way so people will remember them better, or be on common ground" She genuinely looked sorry, so even if her expression was a lie

"Yeah, it's fine....I guess, just tell the others to be more honest, I don't wanna be in a situation where my life is on the line because I was lied to" I walked over to the other agent and he immediately bowed "What th-

"Sephirah Oliver! I'm agent Burns, I'm sorry I messed up, but it's still a miracle to see you" The guy was enthusiastic at least, and I guess it made sense why he's say it was a miracle, after all, at least for me, I didn't see the sephirahs that often

"I-It's fine, please don't bow to me, I mean...I'm not that special as you think" The guy stood back up straight, it felt odd, being the one that gave orders

"Yes sir!, I hope that we can take out that library together one day" I don't know what made me smile, maybe it was because it felt nice that others wanted to join my cause, even if I'm not the main reason

"Well then, get strong, and work harder then I'm sure we'll meet again" Burns smiled

"Yes! I'll make sure of it!" Burns ran off, probably off to deal with another abnormality

"Am I that well known?" I turned to Tsuki

"Yeah, You're pretty much the only person who worked at the original Lobotomy Corporation, and is here" I guess it made some sort of sense, but it doesn't explain why I'm treated as some god

"Oh! I see it was dealt with" I heard Taylor, and so I looked up from Tsuki and saw the three "What'd we miss?" Ao waved over at me

"Not much, just some abnorm escaping" I tried playing it off, I mean, I wasn't hurt, so it probably was okay, I would just get it checked out later.

"Really now?" Shina was skeptical, but, if he knew anything he didn't mention it.

"So? I never got the chance to ask, do you fully agree with what's going on here? Because we need full cooperation, after all, you'll be leading all of us!" That hit me, I'd be leading them all

"Tsuki?" I looked over at her, and showed even more sorrow "So, I am going to be the manager here huh?"

"Spot on, so?" Taylor extended his hand, waiting for me to shake it

"Fuck it!" I grabbed it and shook it "Let's go to war!"