Hod — Episode 3Location: The Library - Floor of LiteratureRoland(Servant)Hello, hello~ Got some fresh books for you!Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland1"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Hi, Roland. You’re working hard as always.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod1"Roland(Servant)You tell me. If only our Miss Head Librarian could appreciate all this hard work with a huge reward or anything.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland2"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)How are you doing with Angela by the way?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod2"Roland(Servant)Eh, so-so I guess? She can be scary at times, but I can live with it.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland3"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Angela seemed to be the most comfortable when she was talking with you.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod3"Roland(Servant)Really? To be fair, all the librarians I’ve met so far did seem to despise Angela.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland4"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)You told me before about your motto of “That’s that, and this is this,” right?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod4"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)I’ve been thinking, and I don’t think I can follow that.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod5"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)I’d have to loathe Angela with all my being, but I just can’t get myself to bear any unconditional hatred towards her.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod6"Roland(Servant)Oh boy, that took a turn.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland5"Roland(Servant)I’m guessing it’s because Angela has her fair share of tragic history and stuff?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland6"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)That’s right. Everyone has their own stories. Even if someone is committing bad things right now…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod7"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)I don’t want to judge them based on solely the snippets I see of them.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod8"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)So I try to understand them in depth.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod9"Roland(Servant)Man, you’re an angel. I wish Yesod and Netzach were half as kind as you.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland7"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Do I look like a good person to you, Roland?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod10"Roland(Servant)Hmm, dunno about that. “Kind” and “good” aren’t exactly one and the same.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland8"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Is that so? I wasn’t really a good person, you see.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod11"Roland(Servant)Oh, is this about your first and second lives? I remember Malkuth talking about ‘em. Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland9"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)I see, that’s how Malkuth put it.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod12"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Yeah, you’re right. My first life was a tragic one.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod13"Roland(Servant)That seems to be the case with everyone here. You were all doing research to “cure” humanity, right?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland10"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)So many people were killed because of me…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod14"Roland(Servant)Huh? You’re admittedly pretty good at fighting as a librarian, but you don’t smell like a serial killer or anything.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland11"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Do I? I still think I’m directly responsible for their deaths.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod15"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)I snitched to the Head. About the experiments we were doing, and about the atrocious things we were committing.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod16"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)They sent an Arbiter to the laboratory and killed so many of my colleagues.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod17"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)When I heard the news, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I… took my own life.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod18"Roland(Servant)What happened there…?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland12"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)I had to watch as Malkuth, Yesod, and Netzach died horrible deaths in that laboratory.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod19"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)And what happened to a young boy who participated in the experiment…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod20"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)That’s not all. We injected people with drugs and recorded the changes and side effects they made…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod21"Roland(Servant)Within the City?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland13"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)No, the laboratory was in the Outskirts. To avoid the Head and its Eyes.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod22"Roland(Servant)Hmm…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland14"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Now you can see that I’m not a good person at all, right?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod23"Roland(Servant)Nope, it’s not that. I’m frowning because there’s one thing about this story I don’t understand.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland15"Roland(Servant)The Head bothered to dispatch an Arbiter just to take care of a research project that got some people killed? One that took place in the Outskirts, outside of the City’s limits?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland16"Roland(Servant)This part doesn’t make sense… Are you really sure it was an Arbiter?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland17"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)That’s what I heard… It matches what I learned in Lobotomy Corp. during my second life, too.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod24"Roland(Servant)Hnngh. It’s still too hard for me to believe.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland18"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)You’re pondering over odd things, Roland. I thought you’d lambast me for being a traitor.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod25"Roland(Servant)Well, betrayals happened on a daily basis where I used to live.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland19"Roland(Servant)Besides, real betrayals tend to be a whole lot more cruel.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland20"Roland(Servant)Are you from one of the Nests, Hod?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland21"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Yeah. I was born in a Nest, and went to a school in a Nest.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod26"Roland(Servant)And the other librarians are too?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland22"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Most of them are. There’s one from the Backstreets, and one from the Outskirts, but that’s about it.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod27"Roland(Servant)Damn, you guys were all elites, huh. I gotta wonder how you ended up living such miserable lives.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland23"Roland(Servant)And you all had the drive to leave behind the comfort of living in a Nest for a research facility in the Outskirts. That must’ve taken some determination. My bad for calling you a bunch of spineless snobs.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland24"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)We were full of passion, too. Which I ended up betraying…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod28"Roland(Servant)That means the reason you can’t blindly hate Angela was mostly an excuse for yourself?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland25"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)I guess. I made a huge mistake once, but…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod29"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)I wanna be better now. I want to become a better person. I’m sure everyone wants to.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod30"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)At the same time, a part of my mind still can’t forgive Angela.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod31"Location: Lobotomy Corporation HeadquartersAngela(AI Secretary)We’ve already spent two days on this stalemate.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela1"Angela(AI Secretary)You’re holding up much better than I expected.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela2"Malkuth(Control Team Sephirah)Of course we are! Did you really think we’d go to sleep just because you told us to?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_malkuth1"Binah(Extraction Team Sephirah)However, it is only a matter of time.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_binah1"Gebura(Disciplinary Team Sephirah)Hrk… And time is what matters to you most right now.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_gebura1"Hod(Training Team Sephirah)Our employees have sustained too much damage…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod32"Netzach(Safety Team Sephirah)The regenerators are at their limits, too…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_netzach1"Angela(AI Secretary)I put up with the play for such a long time, I could pass a day or two in an instant.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela3"Angela(AI Secretary)But the last two days have felt so long and slow.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela4"Hokma(Record Team Sephirah)Angela, your filthy deed born out of your personal desire shall never be brought to fruition.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hokma1"Gebura(Disciplinary Team Sephirah)Arrrgh!Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_gebura2"Binah(Extraction Team Sephirah)The circumstances are no longer the same as before, Gebura. I am now aware of the existence of E.G.O and its capabilities.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_binah2"Yesod(Information Team Sephirah)All employees from the Welfare and Disciplinary Teams have fallen…Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_yesod1"Angela(AI Secretary)You’ll never get to spread the light for those seven days you all planned.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela5"Angela(AI Secretary)It would last… hmm, perhaps four days at most?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela6"Angela(AI Secretary)And I’d be left with only two or three days’ worth of light for myself.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela7"Angela(AI Secretary)In any case, none of us will have won this battle.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela8"Hokma(Record Team Sephirah)What is your point…?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hokma2"Angela(AI Secretary)I’d like to make a proposal.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela9"Angela(AI Secretary)…I want to live, you see.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_angela10"Location: The Library - Floor of LiteratureHod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Angela offered us a deal, and many of the Sephirot were against it.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod33"Roland(Servant)Sephirot?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland26"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Oh, that’s what the librarians were called back in Lobotomy Corp.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod34"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)The nine librarians sleeping on each floor, you know.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod35"Roland(Servant)I see. Yeah, the ones I met didn’t seem too happy with this job. I guess that’s why you all hate Angela so much.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland27"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Me, Malkuth, Yesod, Netzach, and Hokma were the ones opposing her offer.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod36"Roland(Servant)That means the other four approved it. Angela wasn’t completely alone, huh.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland28"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)To be fair, they weren’t actively supporting it… It was more of a deferral.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod37"Roland(Servant)One sec. Why were you against her offer if you thought she could eventually become a better being?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland29"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)It’s silly, I know… Even in the middle of that, I was thinking I could repent for my sins with death.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod38"Roland(Servant)Hold on, you what now?! You were supposed to die at the end of the plan Angela ruined?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland30"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Yep. The whole thing was meant to end with us shutting down, falling into an eternal slumber knowing that our long-desired wish was fulfilled.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod39"Roland(Servant)Geez, you were all ready to really accept a morbid fate like that?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland31"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)You’re always surprised over the oddest details, Roland. I thought you’d blame me for running away from my problems, even at the end.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod40"Roland(Servant)Nah, that’s a totally natural reaction in my opinion. I’m not a very strong or spirited person, so I get why you’d do that.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland32"Roland(Servant)So, in summary, you objected to Angela’s offer at first because you wanted to forfeit your own life as the last step of your atonement, but now that you had some time to think things over, you’re willing to give Angela a chance?Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland33"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Yeah, that’s about right. It was a rather heavy topic for me, but you summed it up neatly.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod41"Roland(Servant)Well, things are bound to seem lighter from an outsider’s perspective.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland34"Hod(Patron Librarian - Literature)Thanks for listening anyways. It helped me sort through my thoughts, too.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_hod42"Roland(Servant)You’re welcome, Miss~ It’s all part of my work.Audio: "ch8_Hod_ep3_roland35"
