Fridge / Lobotomy Corporation

As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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Fridge Brilliance

• It may seem a little odd that the Lobotomy Corporation can experience so many monster breakouts when one of their goals is to capture and contain Abnormalities, until you realize that their primary goal above all else is to harvest energy from them. The Corporation's budget probably sunk mostly into the most efficient way to harvest energy, and probably only took enough security measures to prevent their Abnormalities from just casually walking out when they’re not even angry.
  • The rework of the game now supports the above point due to the Qliphoth Meltdown mechanic, as Angela explains that the work cells only contain the Abnormalities because they're drained of their powers before each shift. They start regaining that power as the day goes on, and at that point the cells will do nothing to stop them outside of Agent intervention.
• The description of the Safety Team mentions that its employees are meticulous and precise. However, Netzach is the epitome of The Slacker, contrasting with this description. One can guess that the employees turned out to be that to compensate for their Sephirah's behavior.
• A justification as to why E.G.O from higher tier Abnormalities has higher stat requirements to be worn by Agents. It is implied from Wonderlab that equipping E.G.O when one does not meet the requirements results in something called E.G.O Corrosion. The case shown is benign as it merely resulted in flowery effects around the affected Agent's nails and their breath smelling like air freshener (although they did feel relieved that they didn't start to grow insectile joints yet), and while it is mentioned that it 'won't turn you into a monster overnight', the danger level of the Abnormality likely translates into the E.G.O as well, both in power level as in danger for the wearer.
• When you reach 100% on the Seed of Light, the title is 'The Knowing I'. But 'The Knowing I' is a Da'at thing, not a Keter thing, and also returns in the sequel as being related to Da'at in a spiritual sense. Subtle Foreshadowing that the True Ending involves Angela much more than Ayin.
• Why is L Corp's main branch (the facility you are managing) a Closed Circle where employees can enter but are not permitted to leave? It's most likely to prevent anyone from leaving and ratting L Corp out to authorities just like Michelle did before. Everything in the underground facility sums up as a spiteful gesture directed against the Head and the City's laws, most notably the presence of Angela; an A.I. that is a blatant violation of a specific law that, if broken, will result in the Head interfering without question. Then there's a Head agent being converted into an AI serving the facility, most specifically one of their chief commanders (which isn't even supposed to be something that could be defeated and captured, to begin with), something that will also pique the Head's wrath. Ayin simply cannot risk a second Arbiter attack, considering one of these elite agents can decimate whole Wings by themselves. Save for a chief agent from the Head converted into an executive of the Lobotomy Corporation, there's also the risk of exposing Gebura, whose ego was from a figure that almost everyone among the public and authorities clearly recognize. There's also the fact that the employees are simply being locked and kept there so Hokma could resurrect them simply by reversing back in time.
• The Fragment of the Universe, a friendly and amorphous alien, has come to Earth in the name of peace so that it may sing its knowledge, taking the time to learn some of the Earth languages and even form itself into something as non-threatening as possible (at least in its eyes), and it seems to know full well that most people exposed to its knowledge will be driven insane and later die. And the first thing it does when it is unhappy ingame is to adopt a hostile form and walk outside to force people to listen to its Brown Note while also impaling them with its tentacles. To reach such a state it either has to be mistreated (according to its standards) or ignored outright, both of which could make it run out of patience for the slow, peaceful approach and make it do anything to get its task done, results be damned.
• Why does the Queen of Hatred take extra White damage? Her hostile breach form is caused from her succumbing to hysteria and insanity. You have to literally beat the sense back into her.
• The Sephirah Meltdowns and their effects all reflect the Sephirah causing them.
  • Malkuth: Sephirah of the Control Team; she mixes up what work you're commanding your employees to do at random, and eventually prevents you from cancelling ordered works. Elijah was also a Cute Clumsy Girl and attempted doing things without further input, which lead to her demise.
  • Yesod: Sephirah of the Information Team; by blurring the screen, you lose what info you know of the Abnormalities and have to go off of muscle memory. Eventually, you can't even see health bars anymore, meaning that you never know when an Abnormality or Ordeal is close to death, making every suppression job a risk. You'll likely become obsessed with security, desperately trying to look for a Qliphoth Meltdown or an Ordeal you missed... like how Gabriel became obsessive over safety in the facility until his compulsiveness eventually killed him.
  • Hod: Sephirah of the Training Team; By lowering the stats of your employees, Hod takes away what training they did have and this leaves them very unprepared for the challenges of their work. Even more so, Michelle was recruited/pressured into a job she had no choice in and little experience, the results of her lack of training eventually impelling her to kill herself out of guilt.
  • Netzach: Sephirah of the Safety Team; by removing all possible ways to heal (except for progressing meltdown levels), Netzach emphasizes the futility he feels trying to keep the employees alive day by day. In his past life as Giovanni, Giovanni tried to bring Carmen back to life by sacrificing his own body, not knowing that there was actually no way to heal Carmen.
  • Gebura: Sephirah of the Disciplinary Team; Gebura manifests as a suppressible entity known as the Red Mist, using the E.G.O of various Abnormalities to attack. While this is obviously a reference to how Kali was the only member of the original team with any combat experience, the Red Mist notably takes double damage from all Abnormalities, a reference to how Kali ultimately succumbed to the many wounds she took when she tried to suppress the many Abnormalities released by Garion and Daniel.
  • Chesed: Sephirah of the Welfare Team; Chesed amplifies the damage that the Abnormalities deal, making the Abnormalities incredibly dangerous if they breach. This references how Daniel and his subordinates were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Abnormalities when Daniel released the Abnormalities under Garion's coercion.
  • Binah: Sephirah of the Extraction Team; She will become a suppressible entity called the Arbiter, moving around the facility to attack employees while also trying to instigate many, many containment breaches by applying various Qliphoth Meltdowns on the containment cells in her path, thus making you deal with both her and potentially a wave of escaping monsters. This is a mirror to what Garion did in life; she acted as the spearhead during an attack on the Corporation on the behalf of The Head, causing a massive containment breach to help her slaughter everything.
  • Hokma: Sephirah of the Record Team; Hokma disables all user-end functions by making them kill employees instead of assisting you in suppressions as usual, in addition to forcing you into a Marathon Level where you have to face a powerful Midnight Ordeal. This references how Benjamin was betrayed, trapped and killed by his best friend Ayin through Angela and trapped in a time loop, and he is now willing to punish his friend through completely destroying his ability to manage time in his facility.
• Their respective departments also nicely line up with what their node on the Tree of Life represents:
  • Malkuth: The Control Team sends out orders from the Manager (you) to all the other clerks and employees. Traditionally, Malkuth represents the channel through which God and man communicate, although it's from 'God' to 'man' in the Control team instead of its traditional reverse (prayer), fitting with the fact that the 'Tree' is upside down in L Corp.
  • Yesod: The Information Team is somewhat of a Non-Indicative Name as he says himself, as their main task is handling information and, in the process, delete a lot of it. This way, they can make decisions and it's sent to the Control Team - reflective of how Yesod is positioned above Malkuth in a normal Tree of Life, forming things before they physically manifest in Malkuth.
  • Hod: The Training Team teaches employees about all the ins and outs of the Abnormalities. The sphere of Hod is associated with knowledge, education and logic. Both are intended to give clear and concise ideas about the subject matter.
  • Netzach: The Safety Team is tasked with physical safety, and all that entails in a large facility filled with deadly monsters that could kill you at the drop of a hat. Netzach is the emotion-driven counterpart of Hod, and since these are all creatures with at least some measure of sentience, handling them right is dependant on how emotionally stable the agents are.
  • Tiphereth: The Central Command Team is an extra large facility that also acts as a bridge between the upper layer and the lower layer (Despite the Tree being in a reverse position, Tiphereth is the only one that remains in roughly the same position), which is more or less the exact function of Tiphereth on the Tree of Life - connecting both layers so that the spheres around it are refined into ideal reflections. Tiphereth is notable for having two of them in charge: whereas the girl is cynic and harsh, the boy is idealistic and kind. This echoes the sphere of Tiphereth connecting the Pillar of Severity (Binah, Gebura, Hod - all of which are feminine) with the Pillar of Mercy (Hokma, Chesed, Netzach - all of which are masculine). This used to be even more apparent in their beta designs, where Tiphereth A had black ribbons, and Tiphereth B had white ribbons, while the inverse was true for their gloves, giving them a Yin/Yang theme.
  • Gebura: The Discipline Team keeps an eye on whether the employees step out of line or not, and reprimand them if they're doing something that isn't allowed. Gebura is the sphere of severity and strict order.
  • Chesed: The Welfare Team is tasked with the mental wellbeing of the employees (contrasting the Safety Team that has physical wellbeing as a main task), fitting with Chesed being the sphere of 'lovingkindness' and grace.
  • Binah: The Extraction Team is the source of all Abnormalities in a sense, as this is the first place they arrive in. Binah is associated with birth (also note that Binah herself wears an earring in the form of the Yoni symbol), and the department metaphorically 'births' the main things you handle.
  • Hokma: The Records Team keeps the records of all employees at the facility and lets you recreate lost agents. Hokma is associated with creation and of things being made from nothing. In addition, Hokma represents wisdom, and the Sephirah helps guide the Manager with his knowledge.
• Big Bird, Punishing Bird and the Bird of Judgement all have incredibly low success rates when Repression/Justice work is done on them. They've all seen where wanton justice can lead before.
• Gebura's favorite weapon is a prototype of Mimicry, Nothing There's weapon. Nothing There is known as the most dangerous Abnormality kept inside L Corp, much like how aggressive and dreaded the Red Mist (Gebura's former human ego) is.
• In the Lobotomy Corp official manual at Steam, there is a "Seventh Trumpet" status, which basically means everything is over and it is the end without any hope. While it's not directly used in the game, it's actually been used at one point. If you didn't complete Binah and Hokma's Meltdowns and reach Day 49, Adam will deliberately use the gathered energy to "enlighten" people by turning them into Abnormalities, as well as releasing all of the others into the world.
• Unlike most ALEPH Abnormalities, CENSORED doesn't have an E.G.O. armor for it. This is because the sight of someone wearing that thing might become insane from how utterly wrong it looks, and the employee might not even want to use it.
• Damage types, employee stats, panic states and work types are all connected to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, specifically the one they share a color with:
  • War rides a red horse, and is connected to anarchy and physical violence. Red damage is the most basic type of physical damage; inversely, Fortitude (the willingness to confront pain and danger) enhances the agent's health, making it more resistant to physical damage. A Murderous employee will attack everyone else indiscriminately. Instinct work is based on satisfying the Abnormality's animalistic needs (hunger, cleanliness, etc); additionally, one instincts animals have is the instinct to fight, tying again with War.
  • Pestilence, or more accurately, Conquest, rides a white horse, and in this case refers to mental sickness and insanity (in fact, Lobotomy Corporation was born to cure the "sickness of the mind" that affects the people of the City). White damage affects the mind, while Prudence (the ability to discipline yourself by the use of reason) makes an agent more resistant to it by increasing their maximum sanity. A Suicidal employee will take their mental stress to the extreme, being conquered by fear and kill themselves. Insight work is based around managing an Abnormality's cell, which doesn't fit the "pestilence" theme; however, most biblical interpretations paint the white horseman as Conquest, and Insight work technically manages and "conquers" the Abnormality's territory.
  • Famine rides a black horse. Black damage is represented by bare branches, and the manual describes it as "being pricked by numerous thorns", fitting the barren wasteland imagery. Black damage affects both the body and the mind, but tends to be less effective than Red and White damage - just like a prolonged famine slowly makes people both physically weak and desperate over a long time. Similarly, a Wandering employee will run around rambling insanely, slowly draining everyone else's sanity. Speaking of which, Temperance is virtuous moderation, the "good" counterpart to forced scarcity; the stat increases the Agent's ability to produce energy from Abnormalities, therefore making them better at fighting energy shortages. Attachment work satisfies an Abnormality's social urges, but the manual warns Agents to use moderation to not "overstep the line" and provoke the Abnormality.
  • Death rides a pale horse (which, in-game, is represented by turquoise). Pale damage is a Percent Damage Attack, and the most lethal and hard to resist damage type. Justice is the most offensive stat (increases movement and attack speed), making an Agent more lethal. Repression work suppresses and "kills" an Abnormality's urges, as opposed to the other kinds of work which encourage said urges; vice-versa, the Shutdown panic state makes the affected employees try to break out Abnormalities from their cells.
    • That said, pale damage is actually quite rare among abnormalities. There are only four who can deal it and they all have some sort of link to justice - Judgement Bird, obviously, and subsequently Apocalypse Bird as Judgement Bird is one-third of it, the Knight of Despair used to be the Magical Girl of Justice, and WhiteNight's link to it is its reckoning-type breaching (aka the day when everyone will be judged).
• What's L Corp's Singularity? Cogito, which allows them to manifest ideas, emotions and thoughts into physical form - for example, it's heavily implied that the "Well" is humanity's collective subconscious, while the Abnormalities are the personifications of negative thoughts and fears. It's also implied that the entire facility was created by "extracting" it from A's mind piece by piece. During a Core Suppression, you are manifesting the Sephirah's mental trauma and turn them into monsters; after successfully suppressing them, their mental health improves significantly because you literally defeated their trauma in a challenge.
  • In fact, one could argue that Cogito requires you to overcome a challenge before manifesting positive emotions. Successfully working with Abnormalities generates positive Enkephalin, which is used to produce energy and equipment; completing each day and its Ordeals allows you to improve the facility; defeating the Core Suppressions creates the components for the Seed of Light; and manifesting a personal E.G.O. requires you to face your own doubts and fears, as the sequel confirms.
• Why is Apocalypse Bird's E.G.O called 'Twilight'? Because 'being in the twilight of one's life' means that they do not have much time left living.
  • There's also another play on words, as one considers the "Ragnarok" (which can also be translated as "twilight of the gods"). In myth, Ragnarok signaled the end of times, akin to an apocalypse. Twilight signals the end of a day.
• Hokma underwent one of the most drastic changes from his appearance as Benjamin to his transformation to a Sephirot, becoming visibly older, gaining a new hairstyle, and replacing his glasses with a monocle. Most likely because Benjamin was Ayin's best friend in life, and Angela doesn't want to risk the memory-wiped Ayin recognizing him.

Fridge Horror

• It's directly stated that a filter is applied to make sure that you, the manager, don't freak out about how actually bad the carnage is when something bad happens. When you look at what a mess Abnormalities already make, it begs the question of how actually gory it is to be killed by one.
• In one of the first signs where something is wrong with her, Angela toasts after an employee dies early on in the game. That's actually inherited from Ayin himself, who popped a cork of wine and toasted for every success he made... including the death of his beloved Carmen.
• Usually, the more dangerous Abnormalities had an Apocalyptic Log that emphasizes how dangerous and threatening the Abnormality is (best seen during Nothing There, Melting Love, Apocalypse Bird or CENSORED). However, for some reason, WhiteNight's flavor text possesses no such stories, instead containing a vague text about it talking to its Apostles, despite being significantly more dangerous than any other Abnormality contained in-game. There's nobody testifying 12 employees transforming into bony, demonic creatures destroying the facility, TimeTrack2 protocol stopped working suddenly, among other things that won't be farfetched in such a scenario. It's possible that WhiteNight influenced the whole facility to perceive it as a "savior" or outright not perceive it as a threat, or nobody would survive (or be sane enough) to describe a hostile encounter with it.
• If one pays attention, when you meet Ayin during the game's final level, his facial features and expressions doesn't differ much from Angela's. Angela, by enduring every bit of despair that the TT2 loops Ayin instigated upon the facility and his rejection of her, had became a person so cold and cynical that she herself has took killing as granted like her creator.

Fridge Logic

• The Melting Love and her minions are very weak to Black damage, but their E.G.O armor, Adoration, provides the great protection against Black damage despite being made from the same slime that the Abnormality is made up of. Additionally, you can wipe them out quickly with their own E.G.O weapon, which is their own corrosive slime harnessed as a projectile.