//------------------------------// // 2 Pt. 1 // Story: Report 7162 // by Pnumbra //------------------------------// *Day 25 Dr. Francis wheeled himself into the facility morgue. Accompanying him were two armed guards and the giant chief of security, George, with all their faces locked forward. Francis adjusted his glasses as they approached the autopsy table. A freshly deceased Dr. Richards was placed on the table while Van Buren announced his entrance with the strike of a match and the smell of tobacco. "So, it's done then?" Francis asked. "Not quite," Van Buren said, taking a spot next to Francis. "The horse is locked away, the suspected betrayer is dead in front of us, and there's no more reason for concern. We SCP'd the bitch." "Don't be so naive, Francis. I have a feeling this little purple thing is just the answer we need for some of sciences greatest mysteries..." "You want to experiment on her after what she did to me? What she did to Richards? I say we keep that thing behind closed doors for all eternity and not mess around with it anymore." "But think of the discoveries..." He said, looking directly at Richards' body. Francis sighed and wheeled himself to face Van Buren. "Doctor, I told you we need to stay clear of this, it's out of our hands. There is some higher power directing this... animal. We shouldn't be playing God." "God? God doesn't exist, Dr. Francis. If he was behind all this, it would just be a joke to him. I don't hide in the presence of opportunity, I seize it." Van Buren took another drag of his cigarette and clipped it between his fingers. "Maybe... but then again, maybe not. I'm not as daring as you, Dr. Van Buren; while you we at Frankfurt Institute stomping on all the toes of your co-workers to climb to the top, I was at Harvard working as a team player." "Are you questioning my loyalty to the foundation, Dr. Francis?" Van Buren took a step towards him. "No. Not at all. I'm questioning your ability to see that you are human and capable of some error. Take my word on it, do not meddle with what we cannot for sure secure, contain, and protect." Francis stated, moving back a few feet. Van Buren took a long toke. "I see." "I'm serious." "I am too...." Van Buren's face turned from frustrated to a slight smirk. "Maybe I've been a little foolish," he said, continuing his glare at the ruined body. "You're patronizing me, aren't you?" Francis was caught off guard by the doctor's sudden change in mind. He smirked, "Of course not. I believe that is all you have for me then?" "Well..." He took a second to speak in confusion, "yes, I believe it was." "Then I'll see you at work," he turned, puffing smoke. When he reached the doorway, he pulled aside the chief of security, "Keep an eye on Dr. Francis. I want to know where he is at all times." * The abrupt end to he and Van Buren's conversation stuck with Francis as he watched him exit the room. Francis turned back towards the dead Dr. Richards and reached into his bloody lab coat pocket, removing the plastic I.D. with a smiling face plastered on it, and slid it into his own. "What's happening here?" he whispered to himself as the guards escorted him back to his office. The work was dull, Johnson was apparently going to a meeting and lunch wasn't for another three hours. The morning sun was fading away through the glass face of a cold, sterile clock mounted on the wall. After filling out twenty two reports, he thought he needed to give himself a break. He opened his door and wheeled out. A few 'good morning's here and a handshake there, he made his way down the hall. He came upon the room marked 2202 and stopped. An new door, made of thick metal was screwed shut over the original entrance, the only way to look in was a small glass slit to fit hay through. Francis couldn't reach the height of the glass slit due to his confinement, but he knew what was on the other side: a weeping demon sent from somewhere else to drive every last human insane. *Day 26 "2202, you and I are going to be spending a lot of time together," Van Buren said through the one way window. Twilight was alone in a blank concrete room with one mirror. "Who said that?" Van Buren pushed the intercom button, "Doctor Van Buren, chief director of this facility." "You're a monster!" She gasped, realizing she was speaking to Dr. Richards' murderer. "Please, 2202, I was only doing my job to protect the foundation. Dr. Richards posed a threat and he had to be dealt with." "He wasn't a threat! He was a good man!" "I'm a good man, 2202. I'm a father of two boys back in Luxembourg, my home country. Im no different than any other scientist at this facility. What makes me any different from Dr. Richards?" "Dr. Richards wasn't a murderer! He wasn't a good man... A good man..." Twilight sighed and began to sob silently. "Please, 2202. There is much work to be done. There is no time to be crying about the past. Instead, we must look to the future!" "Your mad, Doctor." Twilight whispered. "Twilight, please. Would a madman hold degrees in the highest fields of science, medicine, and psychology?" "The sciences are different in this world. Your degrees don't mean anything." she looked at the mirror as if she was looking right at Van Buren. "... 2202, if you are not going to cooperate, then you will be putting us in quite a ditch." She remained silent. "Fine. 2202, if you do not comply, I will be forced to upgrade your threat level from Euclid to Keter. This means that the foundation will put you on a list for our most dangerous subjects detained in our facilities. The foundation will put its own time and effort into destroying you by any way possible." "Doctor..." "I'm sure a death behind the Ward B building by a firing squad would put a stop to you-" "Okay!" she blurted out like an annoyed 10 year old. Van Buren took a step back from the window and smiled. "I've got her now," he thought to himself. * Twilight knew she had to get back on communication with the Princess some how. The disturbance of Dr. Richards death halted Twilight's dimensional rift spell and it shut on its own. The Princess must be so worried, she was sure they had assumed something terrible had happened to her and they would be trying to find a way to get her back as soon as possible. Or at least she hoped. Van Buren's voice coming from the intercom in the concrete room echoed in her ears. Whatever game this sociopath was playing, she had to play it as well. This was his turf, his playground. If she was going to get out of here alive, all she could do was think and wait. She agreed with what Van Buren was proposing to ensure her death wouldn't meet her unexpectedly. She knew she was already a Euclid class being from previous conversations with Dr. Richards... Oh, Dr. Richards... Dr. Richards is dead. Her only friend in this nightmare. How had she gotten caught in the first place, she can't even remember. All this time, waiting in a cell to return back home to her treehouse and to Spike. It was very unexpected, indeed. Twilight listened to the stern voice on the inter come for some time, Van Buren explained to her what the future holds regarding their "partnership" as he called it. The only door in the room unlocked and three guards came in, rifles drawn on her. The shackled her legs together, put a muzzle of her snout, and pushed her out of the room and down the hall. Van Buren was waiting in the next room, accompanied by bodyguards. They sat her down in front of him, across from a table similar to the one in the concrete room. He pulled a syringe out of his lab coat pocket and put it in front of her. "This will make you sleep, 2202." She didn't want to make eye contact with that man and brought her gaze to the tiny needle. "Soon, you will be unconscious and we can start the program. You will be helping humankind, 2202. You should be proud of yourself." "I don't have much of a choice, do I?" she retorted. Van Buren laughed off what she said, "No, you really don't. 2202, we are not trying to kill you. You invaded our 'dimension' without warning. We captured you in '95 and you've been nothing but a burden to us over the last few months. It's a new year, a new day, a new beginning for the both of us," he said. "Cut the act, Doctor." "Very well." Van Buren signaled the guards to hold Twilight down, grab the needle, and inject it into her. She felt hazy, her eyes became heavy. Then last thing she saw was Van Buren's face, still plastered with a sinister smile.