Hod Episode 3

The following is the transcript for **Hod Episode Ⅲ**, the third episode of the Patron Librarians' Stories for the **Floor of Literature**.

## Unlock condition

This episode is unlocked by obtaining the  Book of The Carnival and  Book of Salvador.

## Transcript

**Location: The Library - Floor of Literature**

Servant RolandHello, hello~ Got some fresh books for you!

Patron Librarian - Literature HodHi, Roland. You’re working hard as always.

Servant RolandYou tell me. If only our Miss Head Librarian could appreciate all this hard work with a huge reward or anything.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodHow are you doing with Angela by the way?

Servant RolandEh, so-so I guess? She can be scary at times, but I can live with it.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodAngela seemed to be the most comfortable when she was talking with you.

Servant RolandReally? To be fair, all the librarians I’ve met so far did seem to despise Angela.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodYou told me before about your motto of “That’s that, and this is this,” right?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodI’ve been thinking, and I don’t think I can follow that.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodI’d have to loathe Angela with all my being, but I just can’t get myself to bear any unconditional hatred towards her.

Servant RolandOh boy, that took a turn.

Servant RolandI’m guessing it’s because Angela has her fair share of tragic history and stuff?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodThat’s right. Everyone has their own stories. Even if someone is committing bad things right now…

Patron Librarian - Literature HodI don’t want to judge them based on solely the snippets I see of them.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodSo I try to understand them in depth.

Servant RolandMan, you’re an angel. I wish Yesod and Netzach were half as kind as you.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodDo I look like a good person to you, Roland?

Servant RolandHmm, dunno about that. “Kind” and “good” aren’t exactly one and the same.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodIs that so? I wasn’t really a good person, you see.

Servant RolandOh, is this about your first and second lives? I remember Malkuth talking about ‘em.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodI see, that’s how Malkuth put it.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodYeah, you’re right. My first life was a tragic one.

Servant RolandThat seems to be the case with everyone here. You were all doing research to “cure” humanity, right?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodSo many people were killed because of me…

Servant RolandHuh? You’re admittedly pretty good at fighting as a librarian, but you don’t smell like a serial killer or anything.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodDo I? I still think I’m directly responsible for their deaths.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodI snitched to the Head. About the experiments we were doing, and about the atrocious things we were committing.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodThey sent an Arbiter to the laboratory and killed so many of my colleagues.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodWhen I heard the news, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I… took my own life.

Servant RolandWhat happened there…?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodI had to watch as Malkuth, Yesod, and Netzach died horrible deaths in that laboratory.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodAnd what happened to a young boy who participated in the experiment…

Patron Librarian - Literature HodThat’s not all. We injected people with drugs and recorded the changes and side effects they made…

Servant RolandWithin the City?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodNo, the laboratory was in the Outskirts. To avoid the Head and its Eyes.

Servant RolandHmm…

Patron Librarian - Literature HodNow you can see that I’m not a good person at all, right?

Servant RolandNope, it’s not that. I’m frowning because there’s one thing about this story I don’t understand.

Servant RolandThe 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?

Servant RolandThis part doesn’t make sense… Are you really sure it was an Arbiter?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodThat’s what I heard… It matches what I learned in Lobotomy Corp. during my second life, too.

Servant RolandHnngh. It’s still too hard for me to believe.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodYou’re pondering over odd things, Roland. I thought you’d lambast me for being a traitor.

Servant RolandWell, betrayals happened on a daily basis where I used to live.

Servant RolandBesides, real betrayals tend to be a whole lot more cruel.

Servant RolandAre you from one of the Nests, Hod?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodYeah. I was born in a Nest, and went to a school in a Nest.

Servant RolandAnd the other librarians are too?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodMost of them are. There’s one from the Backstreets, and one from the Outskirts, but that’s about it.

Servant RolandDamn, you guys were all elites, huh. I gotta wonder how you ended up living such miserable lives.

Servant RolandAnd 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.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodWe were full of passion, too. Which I ended up betraying…

Servant RolandThat means the reason you can’t blindly hate Angela was mostly an excuse for yourself?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodI guess. I made a huge mistake once, but…

Patron Librarian - Literature HodI wanna be better now. I want to become a better person. I’m sure everyone wants to.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodAt the same time, a part of my mind still can’t forgive Angela.

**Location: Lobotomy Corporation Headquarters**

AI Secretary AngelaWe’ve already spent two days on this stalemate.

AI Secretary AngelaYou’re holding up much better than I expected.

Control Team Sephirah MalkuthOf course we are! Did you really think we’d go to sleep just because you told us to?

Extraction Team Sephirah BinahHowever, it is only a matter of time.

Disciplinary Team Sephirah GeburaHrk… And time is what matters to you most right now.

Training Team Sephirah HodOur employees have sustained too much damage…

Safety Team Sephirah NetzachThe regenerators are at their limits, too…

AI Secretary AngelaI put up with the play for such a long time, I could pass a day or two in an instant.

AI Secretary AngelaBut the last two days have felt so long and slow.

Record Team Sephirah HokmaAngela, your filthy deed born out of your personal desire shall never be brought to fruition.

Disciplinary Team Sephirah GeburaArrrgh!

Extraction Team Sephirah BinahThe circumstances are no longer the same as before, Gebura. I am now aware of the existence of E.G.O and its capabilities.

Information Team Sephirah YesodAll employees from the Welfare and Disciplinary Teams have fallen…

AI Secretary AngelaYou’ll never get to spread the light for those seven days you all planned.

AI Secretary AngelaIt would last… hmm, perhaps four days at most?

AI Secretary AngelaAnd I’d be left with only two or three days’ worth of light for myself.

AI Secretary AngelaIn any case, none of us will have won this battle.

Record Team Sephirah HokmaWhat is your point…?

AI Secretary AngelaI’d like to make a proposal.

AI Secretary Angela…I want to live, you see.

**Location: The Library - Floor of Literature**

Patron Librarian - Literature HodAngela offered us a deal, and many of the Sephirot were against it.

Servant RolandSephirot?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodOh, that’s what the librarians were called back in Lobotomy Corp.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodThe nine librarians sleeping on each floor, you know.

Servant RolandI 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.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodMe, Malkuth, Yesod, Netzach, and Hokma were the ones opposing her offer.

Servant RolandThat means the other four approved it. Angela wasn’t completely alone, huh.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodTo be fair, they weren’t actively supporting it… It was more of a deferral.

Servant RolandOne sec. Why were you against her offer if you thought she could eventually become a better being?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodIt’s silly, I know… Even in the middle of that, I was thinking I could repent for my sins with death.

Servant RolandHold on, you what now?! You were supposed to die at the end of the plan Angela ruined?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodYep. The whole thing was meant to end with us shutting down, falling into an eternal slumber knowing that our long-desired wish was fulfilled.

Servant RolandGeez, you were all ready to really accept a morbid fate like that?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodYou’re always surprised over the oddest details, Roland. I thought you’d blame me for running away from my problems, even at the end.

Servant RolandNah, 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.

Servant RolandSo, 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?

Patron Librarian - Literature HodYeah, that’s about right. It was a rather heavy topic for me, but you summed it up neatly.

Servant RolandWell, things are bound to seem lighter from an outsider’s perspective.

Patron Librarian - Literature HodThanks for listening anyways. It helped me sort through my thoughts, too.

Servant RolandYou’re welcome, Miss~ It’s all part of my work.