[Lobotomy Corporation] I'm an Abnormality...

Close neighbors! EP.6

"...Okay, so I'm out of the containment room. But, they didn't notice, did they?"

If this company manages those creatures, they probably have some kind of suppression team in case one escapes, right?

I hope I don't get beat up for coming out like this. I hate pain.

- Wee-oo-wee-oo.

Just as I was anxiously turning my head this way and that, a red light started leaking from the ceiling lamp and a siren blared.

They found me in 3 seconds flat. Isn't that too fast?

Wait... Did they let me escape on purpose?

This is supposed to be a company that manages dangerous creatures, so it's suspicious that I could get out so easily.

They probably opened the door on purpose, and when a creature escapes, muscular dudes come to suppress it and torture it until it dies.

"You're screwed if you escape." That's the kind of message they're trying to send, these cunning bastards.

Damn it, I fell for it. Maybe if I go back now, it'll be okay?

Just as I was about to return to the room, regretting my escape,

[Identification Code O-04-84, Meat Lantern creature, which was under containment, has escaped. Management personnel in the corresponding department, please suppress it promptly.]

...The "escaped creature" the announcement was talking about wasn't me at all, but a completely different one.

What the heck, I got scared for nothing. Honestly, it was a ridiculous thought.

I let out a small sigh of relief, and looking closely, I noticed another containment room next to mine.

Curious about what kind of creature was in the next room, I scurried over to the door.

But why is this door so much taller than me? Is there some giant creature being held captive?

I stood on my tiptoes and struggled for a while before I could finally see inside the containment room.

...I'm sure I'm not just feeling this way because I've turned into a girl and become shorter. It absolutely cannot be that.

Going from a long-legged young man to a shorty little miss overnight, a passing dog would burst out laughing if it heard about it.

Anyway, enough with the unnecessary talk, the creature residing in my neighboring containment room was kinda... dog-like.

No, I'm not actually cursing, it really, really looked like a dog.

A dog standing still on all fours, sticking its tongue out and panting.

If it weren't for the weird fleshy bits and eyeballs attached to it, it would actually be pretty cute.

Enough with observing the neighboring creature, I turned my head to check out the hallway, and something written on the side of the containment room caught my eye.

[Identification Code O-06-20, Identification Name 'Nothing There'.]

So, that dog-like creature is apparently called "Nothing There."

The naming sense of the people in this company is a bit strange.

Huh, is that written next to my room too?

Just in case, I checked, and yeah, it was written next to my room as well.

[Identification Code O-01-39, Temporary Identification Name 'Little Girl'.]

...Maybe I shouldn't have looked.

It keeps reminding me of the experience of losing my life companion.

...

...

My impression of being outside the containment room was just... so-so.

Honestly, it's just a hallway with the same white wallpaper as the containment room, filled with meaningless wires, and nothing else. It's really nothing there, unlike the one I just saw.

The only difference is that there's a flower blooming in the middle of the hallway...

Huh?

There's only light from the lamps, and it looks like a concrete floor, yet there's a flower blooming?

Marveling at the mystery of nature, I approached it, and it wasn't a type of flower I knew.

A pure white flower with a soft light emanating from it.

The light was so enchanting that it made anyone who looked at it feel warm.

Maybe it's because the ground has been shaking a little, like there's been an earthquake, but it feels even more mystical.

"A pretty flower is growing even in a place like this."

As I moved right up to the flower's face, the ground, which had been shaking a moment ago, had become still.

Maybe it's because I was so tense until just now, but just looking at the flower feels healing.

Slowly, slowly, I reach out to touch the flower.

It looked so fragile that it seemed like it would break if I applied even the slightest bit of wrong pressure, so my hand moved cautiously...

"Hey! Whoever you are, get away from the flower!"

Startled.

A sudden shout from the side.

My heart almost leaped out of my chest...

I rubbed my shocked heart and looked down, and the flower that was emitting a mystical light until a moment ago was broken in my hand.

...

...

Ah.