Malkuth

SPOILERS AHEAD!

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

Malkuth
Department	Control Team
Layer	Asiyah
Color	Red and Light Yellow
Missions	You Can Do This! Semper Fi Controlling Meltdowns When Dusk Falls

"Oh, where are my manners! My name is Malkuth! I’m in charge of the Control Team!"
- Malkuth

Malkuth is one of the Sephirot that works for the Facility in the upper layer, Asiyah, and is the head of the Control Team. The player meets her on Day 1, after Angela's introduction.

Her hair is cut short and is colored brown and yellow, with a red hairband. She has brown eyes with no pupils and a dark shadow that covers half of each eye. She wears a regular business suit with a red tie and an armband with her initial on it, "M". She constantly carries a pen and clipboard that is described as "almost worn out." The color associated with her in text boxes is Light Yellow.

Malkuth's missions focus on some basic tasks that the player goes through across the game, also giving basic rewards to manage the facility with.

Personality

Malkuth is cheerful, enthusiastic and somewhat impatient, with a clumsy demeanor. She maintains her positive personality even when discussing concerning topics with X and the other Sephiroth. During work, she always tries to bring out the best of herself, giving her all so as to not disappoint Angela or the Manager, as well explaining the rules in understandable but emphatic terms. Malkuth might also consider herself slow and forgetful, the reason for always having a 'to-do' list with her.

Story

Malkuth on selecting Department Expansion

"I will try my best to help you to enhance the performance of this facility."
- Malkuth

Malkuth is a hard working Sephirah who was unable to be put down by her previous failures, always keeping up a positive mood. She has a lot of responsibilities in her department, as well as checking on other Sephirah's Departments when needed.

Meeting - Cutscene 1

Malkuth begins by greeting the new Manager in the meeting room after Angela's introduction on the first day. After presenting herself and giving her best wishes for X to manage the facility well and start picking up the pace, she gives her first mission to the Manager. Soon after, an employee interrupts the meeting by banging on a nearby door. The employee begs for the Manager to fire them, stating that they're "going insane" and that "nothing is normal here". Malkuth tries to convince the Manager to let her take control of the situation, due to the employee being part of her team and under her responsibility. X can decide between intervening or leaving it to Malkuth. If it is left to Malkuth, she will happily reassure X that they don't have to worry and she will soon take care of the situation. Otherwise, if X intervenes, she will tell the Manager that they "will get used to it", that there is no chance for the employee to recover, and that if the Control Team falls, the rest of the Departments will also collapse. Regardless of the choice, the employee will 'resign' unwillingly.

Cutscene 2

Malkuth's Portrait

After completing the first mission, Angela will comment on the incident and elaborate on the next day about the 'resignation'. Malkuth will follow up by congratulating the Manager for completing her given task. During a short talk, she mentions sensing some entities 'creepier' than the Abnormalities, but claims that she is not afraid of them. She feels them in the corridors when alone and remarks that no matter how meticulous one's plan is, they can't control the 'unknown'.

Cutscene 3

After completing the second mission, Malkuth will greet and congratulate X once again. During this talk, she tells X the reason why she always carries her worn-out notebook. The to-do list is always full, but she needs it because she is slower than other Sephirah. She says that sometimes Angela worries about her, but that she is in total control and that she was born for this job. Angela interrupts by telling Malkuth to do a report for her, with Malkuth going immediately. Angela comments that the other AIs/Sephirah are unstable and that among them, Malkuth is the worst one, but also the easiest one to 'control'.

Cutscene 4

On the day after finishing the third mission, Malkuth is confronted by Yesod and Hod from the Information and Training Team. Yesod warns her about the Ordeals and that she cannot suppress them alone with the employees that she has, along with Hod telling her that a single panicked employee is able to kill another ten. Malkuth defends herself by saying that she is able to treat employees before they panic and that she doesn't need weak employees in her department, with weakness meaning 'death'. After trying to justify herself, and the Manager saying something, she shifts from her insecure mood to her usual happy personality. Angela comes by again, saying that the Control Team was unable to handle the Ordeals and now the Manager and the other Departments must stop them.

Relationships

X (Player)

Malkuth is extremely friendly to X throughout her dialogues, even if the conversation moves to more serious topics like discussion about Ordeals or the rules in the company.

Angela

Angela secretly considers Malkuth to be the "worst" of the Sephirot, although she states she "can't complain as she is easy to control". However, Malkuth believes that Angela actually cares about her, and so, continues obeying her orders to satisfy her.

Tiphereth

Tiphereth (Female) considers all of the Upper Sephirot (Asiyah) to be the same, stating: "Why are you upper guys all the same? Netzach is not busy at all! It just doesn't want to move!". However, Malkuth still behaves friendly towards Tiphereth regardless of her statements.

Story Mode Spoilers!
Tiphereth (Female) also seems to have a bit of passive-aggressiveness towards Malkuth's comment on the replacement of Tiphereth (Male) becoming more frequent.

Other Sefirot

While not specifically stated, Malkuth seems to be friendly towards all the other Sephirot in the facility. However, she becomes defensive when they criticize her Department in the handling of Ordeals.

Meltdown

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING MANIFESTATION OF QLIPHA DUE TO SEPHIRAH BREAKDOWN Suppression of Sephirah’s Core Required THIS SECTION HAS MAJOR SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

Elijah Past Name Elijah Trauma Cogito Experiment Suppression Reward Boosted Movement Speed for employees. LOB Points gained at the end of the day increased. Elijah was previously a worker in the early days of Lobotomy Corporation, during the time where the Cogito experiments were taking place. She used to wear a laboratory coat and held a notebook with a to-do list. After her death, her human appearance was used in the creation of 'Malkuth', utilizing the Cognition Filter. Once the Player completes Malkuth's Meltdown, the Cognition Filter that hides her true appearance as a robot is lowered. Her robot form is a brown rectangular chassis serving as the body, with a single digital glowing yellow eye in the center of the body. Her Sephirah name is displayed at the top of the body, and her chassis possesses a streak resembling a red hairband. The body possess mechanical limbs as well; a pair of arms and legs, still carrying the notepad and pen. While in her true form, Malkuth acts calmer, more peaceful, and more honest, but still sticks to the Manager on their path through the facility. The reward for defeating her Meltdown is a boost of Movement Speed for all the employees and increased LOB Points when ending the days, along with granting the Control Team immunity to Qliphoth Meltdowns. Backstory Elijah used to be a slow but passionate employee who joined A's team during the start of Lobotomy Corporation, when the Cogito experiments were occurring. During the time, Elijah had to limit herself to just work rather than remembering names or responding to simple gestures. With her impatient nature, she was trying her best to keep different tasks and orders organized, eventually taking a notebook to note down a list of what she had to do during the days. Her lack of competence resulted in several mistakes during her working time. Elijah tried to convince A to let her join in the extraction or participate in the Cogito experiments instead of just recording their experiment subjects. After some time, and without authorization, she tested the experimental substance on herself. A substance that wasn't ready for human use. Elijah took it and fell to the floor, losing half of her teeth and own fingernails. The dying Elijah tried to approach A, begging for him to put her out of her misery, but he just turned away, ignoring her begging and leaving her to die from the experiment. After passing on, Elijah was used in the creation of the Sephirah, taking the last of her remains, specifically her brain, to create Malkuth. After finishing the Meltdown, a memory of Elijah is seen, of her presenting herself for the first time to A in a cheerful tone, but forgetting where one of her documents were. A expresses that not everything can be done with only passion, and that he used to think that giving compliments was a good thing. During the 'Memory Imprint' by Angela, Elijah is seen during the self-testing of the Cogito Experiment. Additionally, Malkuth in her robot form also makes an appearance during Tiphereth B (Male) replacement, in a zone with weak Cognition Filter. Pre-Meltdown After finishing the fourth mission, a flashback of Elijah greeting A appears, stating she's quite busy and hasn't finished half of what she's written down, though after pondering for a moment, she asks about the extraction experiments that were going to be conducted, specifically, that she couldn't find her name in the list of participants. She admits that there might be many reasons behind that, including her simply not being enough for the experiment, but in spite of that, she asks if she can be part of the experiment. There's a bit of silence before Elijah states that she's learned a lot in this place, and she will not disappoint. Back at the facility, Malkuth approaches the Manager once again, but instead of cheering as usual, she expresses how sad it is to not have enough talent, asking what does it mean when somebody doesn't look back at you: that they do not acknowledge you; they don't even care about what expression you're making; they feel no need to see what you're doing, as they've already come to a conclusion. She asks the Manager if he's ever scraped the floor and writhed in pain, though it sounds excruciating, Malkuth remembers that she felt nothing after her fingernails fell off; after one stares at the flesh where they used to be and right before losing consciousness, when one feels like they aren't themselves anymore they can only laugh frantically, even if it's not funny at all. She adds that then they catch a glimpse of somebody's shadow, along with their feet while they look down on them. Malkuth then asks the Manager if he can guess whose feet those were, with everything being over the moment the person who disliked looking back finally turned around. She wonders if he saw the fragments of her despair right there, or simply looking at her scattered fingernails, believing that was the exact moment she knew true helplessness, and thanks the Manager for that with a smile on her face. Malkuth asks the Manager if he's ever felt helpless to control anything, describing it as when unbearable things pour down from somewhere that isn't yourself and completely overwhelm you, losing control of your own body. There's a moment of silence before Malkuth asks once again for an answer, so she can feel at least a bit rewarded. A remembers Elijah as an impatient person, often causing many mistakes because of that. He remembers she once went on a long, winding filibuster of why she needed to finish the experiment, though none of the details of it. He remembers whenever she was told she wasn't ready yet, she could see a strong desire in her eyes, almost like a craving; a bizarre obsession. A admits that if anyone was in his place, they would've turned around at the sound of Elijah's hasty footsteps, with Cogito being something that she couldn't access at her clearing level, and her only tasks being to record the changes on the test subjects. A recalls Elijah crawling on the floor, bleeding out from every orifice in her face and her hands bloodied, stating she was aware that Cogito wasn't ready for human use yet. Right when he turned around, half her teeth had already fallen out, and Elijah could barely make coherent words, begging for death. Options on what to do appear, but they are all to ignore her. Soon after, her Meltdown will be available, with Angela explaining what a Sephirah Meltdown is afterwards. Post-Meltdown After finishing the Meltdown, a memory of Elijah is seen, presenting herself for the first time to A in a cheerful tone. She says she's glad to join his team, right before she notices she forgot where the report she just wrote was. A expresses that not everything can be done with only passion, the mistakes impatience could cause were more than obvious, so they needed to take their time. The situation at the lab wasn't bright enough to remember everybody's name or respond to "meaningless gestures", and only after a long while he realized how important praise every once in a while can be. Back in the facility, the Manager and Malkuth meet again, X giving an 'odd' greeting, prompting her to say "I think you confuse us as human beings sometimes." Her behavior changes slowly to a more calm one, speaking of dying employees and emphasising with the pressure on the Manager to command everyone. She comments that the Ordeals that the Manager had overcome were likely products of her, and that she didn't expect X to get past them. Accepting that she's unable to change the past, Malkuth tells X that while she didn't expect him to be able to bring peace to the facility again, she can try to wait for things to get better. Expressing a glimmer of hope at the end, Malkuth has the "Willingness to stand up straight". Elijah suffering after taking the Cogito Experiment Elijah mixing her papers Malkuth's Boss form 1/3

Trivia

• On the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, Malkuth (meaning "kingdom") is the tenth and final Sephirot. It is said to connect and balance the forces of all the other Sephirot, and to link God's presence to the world.
• Unlike other Sephirah or employees, Malkuth calls her employees not by their name, but by their ID. It can be compared to how managers are denoted by letters.
• Even though her portrait as Elijah shows her with short hair, the cutscenes show her with mid-back length hair.
• In Malkuth's fourth cutscene, Yesod states that Malkuth can't suppress the Ordeals with her employees because since the Control Team is the first to be unlocked, a significantly higher number of agents are assigned, and therefore there is a higher likelihood an agent will panic and cause chaos.