Beating Riddles with Riddles

"Angela," X said, "there's a letter for you."

"For me?" Angela frowned slightly and took the letter from the Manager. Her name was indeed written in the recipient field, but the sender field was blank.

"Perhaps another employee slipped it in as a prank before I received the envelope." Angela put the envelope in her right-hand pocket, then said to X:

"Manager, please read your own letter first."

Oh, come on. What employee would have the guts? X grumbled inwardly, opening the envelope and taking out the letter. It read:

To the new Manager:

I have already heard of your outstanding performance at the company. Please continue your excellent work alongside your assistant, Angela.

Though you cannot meet me at the company just yet, I believe we will meet someday. Lobotomy Corporation will never forget your efforts and dedication.

-Greetings from A, CEO of Lobotomy Corporation

After receiving the information through his Doppelganger's perspective, Shen Yu could not help grumbling, Well, at least the recipient and sender aren't the same person this time.

Just then, Angela suddenly spoke:

"Manager, I have some matters to attend to, so I'll excuse myself."

"All right." X nodded, immediately realizing that she was going to investigate the extra letter.

That made sense. Slipping a letter into that envelope under Angela's surveillance was no ordinary feat.

Well, I'll leave that headache to Angela. X chuckled, leaned back in his office chair, and held the letter up before his eyes to examine it.

Suddenly, by the light spilling from the screens, X noticed a string of characters in a blank area.

He immediately sat upright, held the paper against the screen, and copied down the characters with a pen.

rootAuthority = true;

Huh? Shen Yu studied the characters through his Doppelganger X's eyes, puzzled. What's this thing for? It looks a bit like a command.

Hmm... X raised his head and looked at the countless screens before him, rubbing the paper between his fingers.

Let's give it a try... The letter came from "A," after all. He wouldn't sabotage himself, would he?

With that thought, Shen Yu first had X bring up the TT2 Protocol, ready to rewind at any moment. After entering the command into the computer, he took a deep breath and pressed confirm.

In an instant, the main screen went black. Then code began refreshing rapidly across the entire screen, dense green characters racing over the black background with a constant hissing sound.

Line after line of code cascaded down like a waterfall, interspersed with ever-changing shapes and symbols.

An alarm sounded continuously, and the surrounding displays began flashing rapidly between red, yellow, and green. On six monitors of different sizes, images and videos became warped and scrambled, with random, snow-like static appearing intermittently. Some screens even began emitting shrill screeches as gray noise took up more and more of the display.

Finally, with a crisp shutdown sound, all the screens went dark together, then restarted and displayed their images again. But flashing red borders now surrounded every screen.

X took a deep breath and opened the department assignment interface, only to discover, to his astonishment, that the number of departments displayed had risen from five to nine-and the Research and Development Department was among them.

Wait, what's going on? X stared at the screen in bewilderment. A virus? No, no. Why would that guy infect his own system?

"Could this be..." X swallowed and slowly said, "the First Directive?"

At the same time, Angela, who was facing the main system, suddenly felt her body stiffen. Then her thoughts froze, leaving her staring blankly at the screen.

Holy shit! Shen Yu sprang from his chair in excitement. Doesn't this mean I've finally made it?

But after having his Doppelganger X check things over, Shen Yu discovered that his permissions did not allow him to view the "Script." He sat back down and sighed.

Looks like it's the Second Directive at most. I knew it. How could a mere fragment have the highest-level directive?

X looked at all the departments now unlocked on the screen, rubbing his chin in thought. The Second Directive is still a pretty big deal.

But why would that guy give me such high-level access? There's no reason for it. Could that white-haired guy who wants to destroy the world have given it to me, hoping I'll support him?

Forget it. Overthinking won't help right now. I'll use this to strengthen myself first. The Ancient God Flame in my main body is far more troublesome than this thing.

X turned his gaze to the Research and Development Department on the screen, recalling the passage Grimm had mentioned before.

"I didn't expect to get my hands on Cogito so soon." X chuckled, opened the passage to the Research and Development Department, then had Viper help sort out his itinerary.

Shen Yu's main body let out a long breath. He stood, patted Little Knight on the head, left the employee dormitory, and returned to the company, heading toward Central Headquarters.

When he reached the far end of the passage on the right, the previously sealed security door opened, revealing the corridor within.

Shen Yu took out a flashlight and slowly entered the long corridor. Thick dampness permeated the enclosed space. His footsteps echoed down the empty hallway.

The walls and floor were both a dull blood-red, looking even more like congealed blood under the light.

Must be rough on the cleaning staff. Everything's red. How are they supposed to find the bloodstains?

Musing to himself, Shen Yu stepped into the elevator. With a creak, it abruptly descended. When the doors opened again, Shen Yu stepped into the Research and Development Department's hall.

Hundreds of rectangular stone slabs hovered in midair, drifting up and down, their surfaces covered in rows of golden inscriptions. They were gravestones and coffins.

Beyond them lay unfathomable darkness, with only the lines dividing the floor giving off a dim golden glow. Death and decay hung in the air.

Just as Shen Yu was about to touch one of the stone slabs, a voice rang out at an inopportune moment.

"You who have fallen into Downstream, what purpose brings you here?"

Shen Yu looked toward the voice and saw a barrel-shaped machine standing to his left. Golden patterns flowed along the edges of her slender limbs, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen in the dim light.

Above her single golden eye was a black screen displaying "Binah," with a honeycomb pattern drawn in the lower left. A tattered cloak draped down her back. (Image)

After considering her words for a moment, Shen Yu said:

"The ferryman of a river without water or sound-the will that guides this frame has made this request of its own accord."

"You passing travelers, this is the frozen domain of Downstream. Your footprints should not taint the dust of this place."

"I come at the ferryman's command. Let weights bolster our vessel, that it may cross the frozen sea and forge a bridge between the Real World and the Kingdom of Nothingness."

With that, the two met each other's gaze and silently took a step forward.

Binah: "..."

Shen Yu: "..."

"What are you here for?"

"To get Cogito."