Lobotomy Corporation, Manager's Office.
"I am your secretary, AI Angela."
X turned his head. The blue-haired girl who called herself Angela was already standing beside his workstation, hands pressed together and held neatly at her front.
Judging by her posture, she had probably been waiting there for quite some time.
Angela's voice was steady and gentle, precise like a finely tuned instrument—almost as if she were repeating an opening line she had delivered to countless managers before him.
A perfectly measured smile rested on her lips, neither overly enthusiastic nor cold.
"Although I am merely an AI, I will gladly answer any questions you may have."
Seeing that X 's gaze had finally settled on her, she paused, leaving him a bit of time to process the information.
"Mm. I know what you're thinking."
Angela continued.
"'The girl in front of me is actually an artificial intelligence?' Am I right?"
There was a hint of knowing confidence in her tone, as though she had already foreseen the look of admiration that would soon appear on the man's face.
But X 's heart skipped a beat.
No—that wasn't what he was thinking at all.
His gaze uncontrollably drifted to her hands, neatly overlapped and flawless.
Those hands…
In some sealed corner deep within his mind, a vague image flickered past.
The details were already blurred beyond recognition, leaving only a lingering fear etched into his nerves—an instinctive warning that the AI before him was far from simple.
At times like this, X couldn't help but regret not having written down those fragments of memory while they were still fresh.
Forcing himself to calm down, he pressed that instinctive fear deep into his heart and squeezed out a somewhat stiff smile.
"Actually… not quite."
He scratched the back of his head a little sheepishly, using the motion to ease his tense body so he wouldn't look quite so nervous.
"Angela—may I call you Angela?"
He asked in a gentle tone.
After receiving her nod of confirmation, he continued,
"The first thing that crossed my mind wasn't that you're an artificial intelligence… I just thought that you're very beautiful."
X paused, staring intently into Angela's eyes, carefully observing for any hint of emotional fluctuation.
Only after confirming that she didn't seem to display any negative reaction did he dare finish his thought:
"…In fact, the difference between humans and machines isn't really that important, is it?"
"..."
From this very first exchange alone, Angela's confident smile—maintained through countless cycles—stiffened by an almost imperceptible margin.
This was something she had never encountered in all her repetitions within Lobotomy Corporation.
However, her immense processing power and the emotions honed through thousands of years of recurrence allowed her to stabilize herself quickly.
At least, on the surface.
"You flatter me," she said.
Her voice returned to its steady cadence, though that professional smile seemed to fade just slightly.
"There remains a vast difference between myself and humans."
"I was created for Lobotomy Corporation, and thus I can only be here. Unlike you, I cannot go wherever I please."
"Then…"
Following her words, X asked a deeper question.
"Do you like this place?"
As he asked, his palms began to sweat slightly.
X knew this was a gamble. Yet deep down, he felt that treating her purely as a machine might be… more dangerous than allowing her humanity to surface.
"..."
Angela fell silent.
Why was this manager so different from all the previous ones?
Still, she quickly organized her thoughts and replied:
"In truth, questions of 'liking' or 'disliking' are meaningless to a machine."
Hearing that answer, X 's heart sank.
It was the worst possible response—an AI that viewed itself as a tool would feel no psychological burden when carrying out certain "programs."
But fortunately, X could sense that the AI girl before him wasn't truly emotionless like a machine.Chapter:1 & Intro
"Yet judging from your appearance, your emotions, and the way you think and respond, you're not all that different from a human, are you?"
X smiled gently, his words tinged with sincerity.
"If that's the case, then this so-called 'meaningless question for machines' is itself a false premise."
"At least from my perspective—or rather, in the context of our conversation—this question is actually very important to you."
"..."
This time, Angela remained silent for a long while.
"Since you insist on asking…"
After some time, she finally opened her golden eyes fully—for the first time since meeting X .
"My answer is yes."
Those golden eyes held no cold, mechanical detachment. Instead, they reflected a complex, indescribable glimmer—
like a deep lake disturbed by a stone thrown into its still surface.
"As for the company—whether in terms of functionality, meaning of existence, habitual familiarity, or the feeling of interacting with the people here—I feel no sense of rejection."
There was a faint, barely perceptible fatigue in Angela's voice, as though she had no wish to linger on this topic.
"Does that satisfy you?"
"Ah…"
X looked at her, but instead of Relaxing after receiving a "positive" answer, he felt a headache coming on and pinched the bridge of his nose.
From that perfunctory 'Does that satisfy you?', he heard caution and distance.
"It's not about satisfying me. Lying to me would be pointless," X said sincerely.
"I just want to know how you really feel… your true thoughts, even if it's only a little."
"Oh, I see now…"
As if realizing something, X looked into Angela's opened—and faintly dangerous—eyes, and decided to take the final, riskiest step.
Not as superior and subordinate, nor as cold obedience and command—
"Do you think I'm testing you? Evaluating your loyalty or something like that?"
He sighed and lowered his voice, making himself sound genuinely regretful.
"I'd much rather we interact like friends, Angela."
"..."
Angela's golden eyes calmly watched X .
"Is this your first order since taking office?"
"It's not an order—just a simple suggestion."
X shook his head almost immediately, his tone carrying an unquestionable firmness.
"How could something like being friends be achieved through an order? Angela, what meaning would that kind of relationship even have?"
"..."
Seeing that X didn't seem to be joking, Angela fell silent once more.
Just on his first day in office, she had already fallen silent three times… had she?
"…I understand."
Angela nodded.
"If you truly feel that way, then I should respond with the same sincerity."
"Good."
A clear, heartfelt smile finally appeared on X 's face.
It wasn't relief born of reassurance, but a brief sense of Relaxation—like surviving a close brush with disaster.
He had won his first gamble.
"Then, please take care of me from now on, Angela."
Suppressing the faint tremor in his arm muscles caused by lingering tension, he naturally extended his right hand toward her.
The gesture was like offering an olive branch in the middle of a minefield—dangerous, yet carrying the hope of peace.
Looking at the outstretched hand, Angela felt a subtle stir.
This manager… might he truly introduce a slightly different "variable" into this seemingly endless cycle?
Perhaps he could even alter the course of the entire loop?
At that thought, Angela's lips curved ever so slightly.
She no longer hesitated, extending her own perfectly constructed, fair-skinned hand and gently clasping the one offered in goodwill and sincerity.
"From now on, please take care of me as well, X ."
"..."
Seeing that Angela showed no other intense reaction, X finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
For now, goodwill seemed to be working.