A

This section contains spoilers related to the story of Lobotomy Corporation. Read ahead with caution if you want to experience the story for yourself.

[ A ] is the founder of Lobotomy Corporation and coworker of Carmen and the Sephirot. The first time the player knows about A is on Day 2, when Angela mentions his motto. As the days progress, the player learn more about who is really A. The player gets a direct greeting from him at Day 22 in form of a letter.

A has black short hair, yellow eyes, wears an almost completely black attire with a shirt, belt, pants, and shoes, with his lab coat over the top. The letter 'A' is just the shortened version of his actual name.

## Personality

[ A ] is a person focused more on the result rather than the process itself, willing to sacrifice everything so long as the goal is fulfilled. He is quite stubborn due to this nature, making him take the situation into the extremes. That goal was given by Carmen as a legacy to fulfill rather than an objective created by himself, just because he felt the need to complete her will and what have they worked on for so long. His behavior contrasts with Carmen's compassionate and altruistic personality, but both were in the same project together and A did believed in her words.

He has a strong will and the ability to endure the sacrifices and hardships, making him last through the whole path of the project to overcome those difficulties. He is also somewhat persuasive and deceptive, as evidenced by his abilities to convince people into doing things.

A will not stop in his efforts to achieve his goals, even if it breaks major regulations. The most notable example is in the creation of Angela, as her existence violates the "AI Ethics Amendment" made by the Head against sentient beings which aren't humans but look human.

## Story

### Past

[ A ] was a co-researcher known as Ayin, one of the first employees who worked under Carmen's lead on "The Seed of Light" project. Carmen was a visionary bent on finding and creating a medicine that can heal an incurable disease and return light to the souls of people, undoing the City's current state as a corporate dystopia, and saving humanity. Ayin was capable and determined enough to get into any Wing he wanted from the start, but he chose to follow Carmen instead to fulfill this goal of her. Alongside Carmen, Ayin also had a coworker named Benjamin, who followed him and supported him during the times of need.

Carmen began to tell A her thoughts about a project to restore humanity's lost light. She theorized about a medicine that can literally draw out from the human subconscious, a formless concept that took shape and can become a kind of seed to cure this disease. This seed would be planted on people's mind and these seeds will bloom by themselves, different on each person. It was a concept that they needed to research to make it possible. They trusted each other, with Carmen admitting that she had a weak heart that could make her fall if someone suffers because of her actions.

She herself became to him something like a "mentor" and with him becoming an assistant who was ready to support Carmen in her endeavors. With the work in the projects and a laboratory settled in the Outskirts, soon people from all classes started to join them, including an elite member of society and a legendary Color Fixer, dreaming of a bright future for their labors, all guided by Carmen's speeches. They also saved a pair of children from the Backstreets, Enoch and Lisa.

The project of "The Seed of Light" started with an experimentation supported by Elijah, Gabriel, Giovanni, and Michelle, along Kali and Daniel. There were also other coworkers who helped in the project. The personnel put their efforts into work to achieve Carmen's goal, but there were flaws in the eyes of Ayin about the employees; a lack of competence, excessive rationality, uncontrollable fear, recklessness in their ideas. But Carmen believed more in such positive efforts and Ayin began to lean by her side.

Time passed and still no result were obtained to make a major step. They had the research of Cogito, which required a human subject to test it on. Carmen was found to be the most optimal candidate, but something unexpected happened; Enoch showing interest in the project and wanting to find that meaning of life with the light. Despite Carmen's numerous discouragements, he still wanted to participate, putting the harsh decision of Carmen accepting the use of Enoch as a subject. Unfortunately, Enoch dies, and Lisa mutters hateful things against Carmen in that she should have died instead, and she lost faith in herself. Carmen fell into a deep depression, losing her naturally charismatic and bright stance completely. Ayin was concerned for her but couldn't keep an eye on her all the time, allowing Carmen to attempt suicide in a bathtub by slitting her wrists.

Ayin found her unconscious in the bathtub, bleeding from her wounds in the unsuccessful suicide. Ayin managed to salvage her body and immerse her in a cryogenic chamber. However, this state allowed the decision of using Carmen as a key part of the project that failed before. Ayin removed Carmen's nervous system from her body and placed it in a reservoir where she began to produce Cogito for continuous experimentation and become the "The Well", where the substance is drawn out from. Even with her nervous system as the only remaining part of her body, Carmen still lives on in the chamber, though she cannot see, hear, talk, or otherwise communicate with those that remain.

Carmen's death heavily shook the already unstable team, but the experiments continued because they still believed in the vision that Carmen had brought them together with. However, more issues began to appear again related to the Cogito research. Elijah took an unauthorized injection to help in the research on humans, but died in the process. Gabriel wanted to moderate this but eventually fell to insanity and died as well. In a method to control the doses of Cogito, he required volunteers, which Giovanni accepted to be part of the experiment, but with the fake hope of saving Carmen with it and succumbing to death like the ones before. After witnessing so much death, Michelle finally broke down, and confessed the workings and dealings of Lobotomy Corporation to an Arbiter of the Head, Garion. Garion soon after followed up on Michelle's information, infiltrating the facility and coercing Daniel to open the Abnormality containers. Garion then proceeds to wreck havoc alongside the Abnormalities, annihilating much the remaining researchers Daniel included. Kali eventually fought her way to the Arbiter, and managed to bring Garion to her knees, mortally wounded, at the cost of her own life. In the end only Ayin, Benjamin, and a handful of other workers remained after the massacre.

Ayin eventually found Garion in the aftermath. He proceeded to torture her for the slaughter of his few remaining coworkers, and afterwards began to probe her brain, discovering the inner workings of the Head and how to work under its gaze in the future. With this information, Ayin finally prepares to for the conflict that would grant them access to become a Wing and no longer be in danger because of the Head. Benjamin helped in sparking the "Smoke War", a severe event to take down the current L Corp with other groups, specially R Corp. With this opening, it allowed them to become the new L Corp, which provided energy like the one before. With the knowledge obtained in the research, they quickly make preparations for a new facility in their Nest.

At the end of this phase, Ayin attempted to create an AI to simulate Carmen, with help of Benjamin. This Android AI was called Angela to finally take them out of the despair of the whole situation, but she became far different from Carmen and Ayin detested the machine because of it and avoided to interact with it, but still leave it the works designated for a machine. Angela did the applications for turning the corporation into a Wing, hired new personnel for the facility by sending recruitment letters to random people, as well as making contracts with other Wings like R Corp and T Corp for additional forces for the project that Ayin felt obligated to complete as the will of Carmen. Benjamin tries to stop him and try to make him just turn around so he can live normally, but he ignored Benjamin's pleas because he had now fully commited everything to seeing Carmen's dream through.

Since the facility in the Nest was used by Ayin, he wanted to finish the project for once. After setting up other facilities to provide energy to the city, Ayin created a new one, and buried it far into the earth. All the energy produced in this facility was instead used for the creation of the Seed of Light, but to complete this routine properly, he would need someone who would not fail him as his human coworkers had, and so he and Benjamin set about to create an AI far more advanced than anything yet created. Fashioned in Carmen's image, Ayin named his new creation Angela. Angela had the feature of perceiving time 100 times slower, given from the start; and now was handed the "Script" by Benjamin, a routine of steps to fulfill the project and help in correcting it when needed. This included the Sephirah, their old friends (and Garion) Ayin had brought back by encasing thier remains in mechanical tombs, giving them new names and suppressed memories. Angela has to oversee all the loops made and every fragment is recorded in her mind, gaining only the sympathy of Benjamin who was giving her support. He felt that Ayin was soon coming to a point of no return and tried to warn him by first preparing a recorded message to him during the loops with a cover up so even in the future, he could stop. However, Angela interferes and took out the last part of the message about the third truth. She seemingly kills Benjamin to fulfill the last actor of the script, giving him the mechanical body to become a Sephirah, and now named Hokma.

In the end, Ayin is left alone. All those colleagues who supported him were gone and he was going crazy. Carmen's expectations, unfinished research, and the death of colleagues ruined him. He attempts to commit suicide, but he is stopped. However, Ayin decided to give up in his own way. His personality disassociated from himself and transferred his memories to a data system, so they could be implanted in new managers who will come to work in this facility. Ayin meets his own end in that form, but he is still somewhat alive while within the last department of the facility as reflections of his heart and memories.

During Day 46 and onward, he confronts his own reflections of the past that are blocking him from advancing to surpass the final ordeal to finish the Seed of Light, which needs the Sephirot to also overcome their own past, and Ayin to overcome his own reflections. He meet his counterparts: Abel, Abram, and Adam. All of them just being disassociated thoughts of Ayin's mind to either accept nothing will change, that the suffering cannot be overcome, or to embrace the failure with the unfinished seed to create Abnormalities from people. After surpassing those thoughts, Ayin presents himself at Day 50, ready for the final day to be finished so all of his efforts could come to fruition. Upon completing Day 50, he dissolves into the Seed of Light alongside the manager, having accomplished what Carmen set up for him after a decade in the real world, giving the final ending where the Seed of Light gives new hope to humanity. However, with the interference of Angela at the ending, the Seed only shone for three days instead of the intended seven, leading to the *Library of Ruina* sequel.

The other endings of facing Ayin's reflections are backing up and starting over, succumbing to the pain and dying while taking all of his efforts alongside him, or using the remains of the Seed of Light to create the true form of humanity as Abnormalities.

## Relationships

### Angela

Angela was created on the basis of Carmen, but the creation did not resemble its basis, being completely different in character from her. When A realized this, he turned his back on her, never wanting to see her face again. Ayin despises her fully and barely interacted unless for work, and Benjamin taught most of the routines to her.

### Benjamin

Benjamin admired Ayin and wanted to work with him, becoming colleagues. Besides Carmen, Benjamin was the only other person that had great trust on him and is willing to help him until the end for his own sake and safety. This is shown when creating Angela, as he tries to support that Ayin did everything he could and has the time to back up now.

Part of these sentiments are also part of Hokma, which is the Sephirah that Benjamin became after being turned in by Angela.

### Carmen

Ayin was Carmen's assistant and associate. He, like everybody else, was inspired by her ideas. They met each other at the start of the project and had already a bond to complete this idea for the sake of humanity or as their legacy. Even though some of her ideas seemed too reckless to him, he trusted her and agreed to help her achieve her goal. But after Carmen's death, he became desperate and attempted to bring her back to life, creating Angela.

## Gallery

Ayin looking at screens in his officeAyin aloneAyin and Benjamin creating Angela

## Trivia

* A's real name, Ayin (meaning "Nothing"), is the concept of nothingness in Kabbalah where the Sephirot came out of being.
* Information about A's fate originates from the Lobotomy Corporation Beta Story and was cut from the final game for ambiguity.