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Out of the great, big crater where Site-41 is supposed to be, crawl two women. They’re met with gray skies, filled with smoke and dust. In the distance a great, bestial howl echoes out. The two walk side by side along decrepit and empty streets. One flips a coin rhythmically.
Flip. “Heads.” Flip. “Heads.” Flip. “Heads.” Flip-
Sophia Light snatches the coin out of the air and looks it over. It’s like a regular American quarter, heads and tails, fifty-fifty for either. She flips it back to Agent Requiem and continues on.
“Heads!” Requiem announces.
“A weaker man might reexamine her faith… or the laws of probability.” Light looks out across the destroyed city as if seeing it for the first time. Her head hurts. She presses the palm of her hand against her forehead and dried blood flakes off.
“Perhaps Saint Cajetan wishes to show his favor!” She flips the coin again. “Do you want to call it?”
Light rolls her eyes. “Heads.”
Requiem uncovers the coin and practically beams at her. “See!” She gently knocks her knuckles against Light’s shoulder. “Let's do it again!”
“Can we do something else actually?” Light isn’t sure how much more of this she can take, or how much of this she’s already taken. Memories start to blur together after a certain point.
“Sure!” Requiem pulls out a deck of cards and Light immediately regrets her life choices. The life choices she can remember anyway. “Okay so first you pick a- woah holy shit what is that?”
From a distance it looks like a huge pile of dead babies, though as they draw closer Light notices something. Hanging above the corpse pile, tied up by a wire, is SCP-019. A -2 instance squirms out of the mouth of 019 and lands on the pile with a pitiful squeak.
“What- the fuck?”
A -2 instance worms out of the pile towards Requiem. Requiem reels her foot back and kicks it as hard as she can, sending it flying.
“Looks like Saint Gianna Beretta Molla took a day off,” Requiem says.
“What does that even mean-” the words are snatched right out of her mouth as SCP-4715 reveals itself. It doesn’t see them yet, but it’s standing there.
Requiem snatches Light and drags her into a bush. 4715 walks over to the pile of 019-2 corpses and starts eating. Light throws up in her mouth.
“Oh fuck, oh fuck.” Light can’t move. A -2 squirms towards them, squeaking and weakly swinging its claws. Requiems pulls a knife out of her pocket and jams it through the -2’s skull before it can alert 4715.
4715 faces their hiding spot. Requiem slaps her hand over Light’s mouth before a squeak of fear can escape her. It stalks towards their general direction, not quite getting close to them.
“Saint Nicholas Owen be my grace!” Requiem whispers. She chucks the coin as hard as she can away from them. It smacks against something in the distance. 4715 runs towards the sound and Requiem practically lifts Light up and sprints the opposite direction.
“What the hell is going on?” Light asks as they reach an empty road. Light had tried to ignore it, but that certainly wasn’t the only escaped SCP they’ve seen.
“I don’t know, but you should be a little more careful, dollface.”
Light ignores her. “Requiem! What’s the first thing you remember?”
“The first thing that happened today?”
“No. The first thing you remember.”
Requiem ponders this for several moments before shaking her head. “Saint Dymphna, it’s gone. Can’t remember.”
“You misunderstand me. What’s the earliest thing you remember after all the things you’ve forgotten? Think about it.”
Requiem cocks her side to one side. “I remember you, my lord.”
Light winces. “Nevermind.”
“Have I answered wrong?”
“No. No just-” Light stops dead in her tracks and clutches her head. Someone’s slamming on her office door, screaming her name. Sophia has a pen in her hand. The shouting gets louder. And then-
Light shoots upright. She’s on the ground, in Requiem’s arms. Requiem frowns. The world still spinning around her, Light stands up. Requiem grabs her shoulders before she can fall again.
“My lord! You collapsed!”
“Site-19! We have to get to Site-19!”
“Why?”
LIght sputters and chokes on the dry air. The further they went the thicker the air became. “Be- because the letter! We have to deliver a letter!”
“A letter? Don’t get it.”
“No, of course you don’t get it. I’ve got it.” Light pulls it out of her pocket and looks it over. Written in her own hand: To Site-19, Site Director’s eyes only. She tries to show Requiem but her eyes are locked on something in the distance.
Swerving around crashed vehicles and corpses is a Foundation van. As it draws in, Light is blinded for a moment by steam and smoke. Requiem puts herself between Light and the mystery van. The window rolls down, revealing the Alleged God with a cigarette between his teeth. Requiem growls.
“You three ladies look a little lost. Anything I can do to help you?”
Requiem glances at Light before speaking, “We don’t need help from a false idol like you.”
“Oh, you’re Foundation.” The Alleged God begins rolling up the window but Light runs to jam her hand in the way.
“We need to get to Site-19. Is that where you came from?”
“Sophie, hey! Didn’t recognize you with the whole-” he points to his head as if that communicates anything to her, “Oh, you don’t want to go back there, I know I don’t.”
“I have to. It’s urgent!”
“Look, I know I promised to pay you back after that favor you did me, but your folks went and blew up a lot of my hard work. I’m considering all past debts null.” The Alleged God jams his cigarette on the back of her hand. She recoils and he finishes rolling up the window.
“Blasphemer…” Requiem mutters as the Alleged God speeds off. She cups Light’s hands in her own, observing the small burn. She takes a drop of her water bottle and uses it to clean away the ash.
“Asshole… You don’t have to do all that. It’s just a little thing.”
“He shouldn’t have touched you,” Requiem growls, sending a shiver down Light’s spine.
“Yeah well…” Light takes a step back and nearly crumbles to the ground again. She hadn’t realized how much her legs are shaking. She’s starving.
“Let’s take a rest somewhere.”
…
They build a campfire inside of an abandoned building, they being mostly Requiem, as Light sits and examines her belongings. She didn’t have much, not even her ID. Just the letter, and Light wasn’t brave enough to open it. Knowing herself, the letter has a failsafe.
Light had tried to ignore the feeling of being watched for the past couple of hours, but after the Alleged God pointed it out to her, it was nearly impossible to ignore. Nobody was in here with her, and has apparently been trailing them for a while. Light isn’t sure whether or not it’s worth her time to point it out.
Requiem drags a dead body into their shelter.
“What are you doing?”
“Making dinner.”
“We can’t eat that!”
Requiem gives her a look. “Why not? You need something to eat and I’m not letting you collapse again.”
“We don’t know what killed them. There could be parasites or maggots in it!”
Requiem takes the knife and hacks off a piece of the forearm. “Looks fine to me.”
“This feels sinful.”
“Saint Martha will forgive me. Besides, meat is meat…” Requiem has the knife raised high, ready to strike down again, when they both freeze. A large group of cows walks past their shelter. Requiem puts the knife away and follows them out.
Light didn’t want to follow, she was exhausted enough as is, but her other option was to just sit here, accompanied by a bloodied corpse and Nobody. She scratches at the palms of her hands until it hurts, until sticky, pink blood covers her fingers, and decides to follow.
She drags herself away from the town, towards an open field, needing to throw herself over a fence to catch up with Requiem. In the center of the field, surrounded by the cows and Requiem, is a large, metallic, polyhedron-shaped object.
From a distance, it almost appears as though the cows are dancing, though, by the time Light reaches Requiem’s side, the cows have dispersed. Requiem doesn’t move, only staring at the object. Light freezes as the danger of this situation dawns on her.
“Reqqy?” Fuck, her voice sounds awful. Requiem doesn’t move. “Requiem?” Light scoots in closer, suddenly noticing the puddle of blood before Requiem’s feet.
Sitting inside the strange object is a juvenile lamb, its skull crushed in. Requiem trembles, looking… an awful lot like someone else Light knows. That usual, dopey smile drooping into cold terror. Requiem chokes out a noise that’s almost a laugh.
“They- she walked over here with them and they crushed her skull in.” She drags the back of her fingers against the lambs wool.
“I guess… even the cattle need something to pray to.”
“It’s not fair.” She bites her lip. “She didn’t know what she was getting into. She was so young. She couldn’t have known.” She kicks the metal object with an echoey clang. Light nervously looks at the grazing cows.
“... I don’t want to stay here.”
Requiem straightens up, an empty grin pulling on her lips. “Forgive me, doll, lost track of myself.” Whatever, Requiem’s baggage isn’t Light’s problem. She doesn’t say anything as Requiem scoops the lamp out of the object and lays it underneath a tree.
They slay a cow, they once again meaning Requiem. She pounces on the cow, burying the knife right between its eyes. It collapses. Requiem tears out its windpipe, cuts off its bloodied hooves, and takes great satisfaction in skinning it.
Light prefers eating beef over the potential of eating human. They don’t talk while they cook and eat, besides Requiem cracking a few food related puns. Outside, the cattle scream.
…
A big sign reading SCP Pool Corporation lays in their path. The sign is rotten and water damaged. Requiem kicks it out of the way and sizes up the building next to it.
“Couldn’t have come up with anything better? Super Cool Pools? Slippery Cool Productions? Summer Company… Party?” Requiem winces.
“We can’t always be winners.” Light pushes her way into the building. If this place is owned by the Foundation then it could have something useful. Maybe something to drink that isn’t stale water.
The pool, surprisingly, still has water in it. Light lays down on the ground and dips her hand below the surface. The water is clear and cold, it feels heavenly as she uses it to scrub the blood and grim. Behind her, Requiem cries out and sputters.
Light turns in time to see Requiem blindly reach out to turn off the showerhead, which was currently spraying her in the face. Normally there would be a wall between the showers and the pool, but said wall was currently in a pile of rubble on the ground. Requiem twists the nob and flashes Light a benign smile.
“Didn’t-” she spits, “Didn’t think the water would work.”
Light snickers. Requiem shakes her head like a dog, spraying water everywhere, especially onto Light.
“Is the pool nice?” Requiem asks, pulling off her coat.
“Well it’s cold. You’re not going to- oh my God you are going to-” Requiem had already started shimmying her way out of her clothes before Light started speaking. “Reqqy, you don’t know what’s in this water. If the Foundation owns it, it’s definitely anomalous.”
“Do you feel any anomalous effects?”
Light coughs. “That’s not the point.”
“Is it not?” Requiem gets on the diving board and drives into the water, splashing water everywhere.
“Tro-” Light clamps her jaw so tightly she knicks her tongue. Hopefully Requiem didn’t notice. Light checks her pockets to make sure the letter didn’t get water damaged. She sighs with relief, ready to chew Requiem out.
… Requiem doesn’t surface from the water. Light looks around, did Requiem get out of the pool when she wasn’t looking? It’s so very quiet.
Nobody, and only Nobody, is with her.
“Fuck! Fuck!” Light scrambles around the pool, for a full second prepared to launch herself off the diving board. She pauses, her mind catching up with her long enough to drop her coat and pants in a chair.
She slides off the diving board and gracelessly swan dives into the rippling surface. She’s blinded for a moment, eyes burning with chlorine. Something big and firm wraps around her, shrouding her vision in darkness.
She breaches the surface with sharp gasp and flails against her captor.
“My lord! My lord! You came after me!” Requiem squeezes her tighter until Light stops squirming. Light blinks, looks across the large, artificially clear, and is suddenly very aware of the fact that neither of them are wearing any clothes.
“Of course I came after you!” She tries to sputter out with little success. She pushes Requiem away, treading water away from her. She looks up, focusing on anything except… her.
“What were you thinking!” She shouts, watching a pool skimmer fly across the sky.
“My legs hurt,” Requiem says, “I hadn’t expected… Saint Adjutor, look at all this!”
Light looks around, not quite sure what she’s seeing… An ocean pretending to be a public pool? In the distance there’s some sort of landmass, and some sort of multicolored blob between them.
“Hold onto me,” Requiem says, turning her back to Light. Light wraps her arms around Requiem’s shoulders and her legs around Requiem’s waist and tries very very hard not to think.
As they draw in closer to the multicolored mass, Light realizes it’s a bunch of animal-shaped pool floaties drifting in a herd. Requiem slows down as a floaty drifts towards them.
Light runs her figures along the back of the pool floaty. Bumpy and ridged, like scales. The pool floaty looks like a dragon, but upon closer inspection the head is completely fake. Something to ward off predators? The actual face was closer to the ring of the floaty. She should write this down next time she has the chance.
Requiem grabs the pool floaty by the false throat and swings a leg over it.
“What are you doing!” She wraps her limbs tighter around Requiem before she slips off.
“It’s a pool float, maybe we can get a ride.” The floaty lets out a squeak and speeds across the water’s surface. Requiem whoops excitedly. Light wishes she could match the enthusiasm.
The float slows down as they approach the landmass and the water gets shallower. It spins in circles until they get off. Light watches it drift towards a pile of what appear to be coins and follows, curious.
A bandaid crawls across the ground like an inchworm. It curls around a coin, pries it off the tile, and picks away at its shell. The float drifts past, eating the bandaids on the surface. The coins shift occasionally, staying closer to the blue tiles than the white ones.
“Fascinating.” Light slowly lays down on the ground by the water’s edge. “These creatures have their own hierarchy. An entire ecosystem. I wonder…” She dips her hand in the water and feels along one of the colored tiles, it’s slightly fuzzy. She scratches, getting some of the strange plant/algae under her nails. “This is-!”
“Darling! There’s food over here!”
“Huh?” She gets up and follows the sound, finding Requiem sitting on the counter of a concessions stand, hand already in a bag of chips. The labels are illegible but still recognizable as brand names. Requiem holds out an unwrapped honeybun and Light takes it.
“Cool isn't it?” Requiem bends over to open a cabinet. Light looks at the ceiling.
“What happened to our clothes?”
“I’m not sure. There’s a dressing room over there.” She points to a pair of doors. There’s symbols marking each of them, similar to the symbols for male and female but not recognizable as either.
She picks one at random to enter, Requiem follows, bringing with her the sound of crunching chips. The locker rooms look like everything else, in the sense that it looks like something imitating what it's supposed to be from memory. A bent locker door swings open with a squeak, inside there’s a dusty gym back.
“Aha!” Requiem valiantly pulls out a pair of swim trunks. Light takes the bag, facing the wall while Requiem dresses. Failing to find anything her size, Light opts to drape a towel over her shoulders and continues not thinking about it.
“This place is pretty interesting,” Light says, still facing the wall. “The water seems like clean, sterilized pool water, but there’s plant life growing in it. I wonder if the creatures here have somehow evolved to survive here or if the water is nothing like the water back home.”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that.” Light jumps because Requiem is much closer than she thought. “But given the snack supply and the relative safety, I don’t see why we shouldn’t stick around and find out.”
The euphoria of getting to study an aquatic environment all on her own seeps out of her, replaced with dread. How long can she waste her time here? Moose is waiting for her.
“We should find a way out of here.” She pushes past Requiem to leave the dressing room. A survey of the surrounding area isn’t too helpful, though she does see a flock of pool skimmers in the water… hmm.
She picks up a bag of chips Requiem opened.
Cautiously, as though more scared of the pool skimmer than it is of her, Light stalks towards it. One hand outstretched, clip clenched between the tips of her forefinger and thumb. The pool skimmer, while not having clearly definable eyes, notices her approach. It tilts what could generously be called its head, steps forward, and snatches the chip.
Light gasps.
Her excitement is cut off by the sound of a metallic crack followed by Requiem’s cry of fear. She spins around, scaring away her new companion, in time to see something chewing on a pool skimmer, blood pouring down its ‘face’. It looks like a human child but without any of the features that would designate it such.
What’s with today and weird, baby-like anomalies!?
“It touched me!” Requiem shudders.
“What is it?” Light creeps closer. Its skin is smooth and stretchy, she spots gills along what appears to be a neck. Some sort of amphibian by the looks of it. She wishes she had some of her tools so she could test the composition of the water and study how these creature’s gills filter through it.
“I would not get any closer, darling.” Requiem puts her hands on Light’s shoulders and takes a few steps back. As if on cue, several more of the things crawl out from under chairs and out of the water.
Pack animals? Light wonders.
“Saint Rita…”
This is a sign, Light thinks, dawdled too much and now this place is going to punish me.
Requiem attempts to make a weapon out of a folding chair, only for a few of the things to grab onto the other end. A pitiful game of tug-o-war that will end in life or death. Light spots an opening in the slowly closing ring of predators and makes a split second decision.
“Hey! Fuckers!” She sprints towards the opening, making it all of three steps before smacking her face into the ground. Maybe should’ve paid more attention to those NO RUNNING signs.
Her distraction works at the very least, everyone looks at her, affording Requiem a chance to rip the chair out and start bashing skulls. Assuming these things have skulls. So many research possibilities?
“Are you quite alright, my lord?” Requiem scoops Light off the ground and starts hauling her towards the water. Light spots a diving board off to the side and feels a little better about their chance of survival.
“Go that way!” She points. Requiem tosses the chair at their pursuers and lifts Light up in a bridal carry. Off the diving board they go.
It’s night when they resurface, stars twinkling in the holes in the ceiling. Light gets out of the pool and rushes to her stuff, relieved to find her letter intact.
“That was fun!” says Requiem.
“That was a colossal waste of time. We need to get moving right away.”
Requiem frowns, but says nothing more.
…
A large, dead forest stands between them and Site-19. Light swallows a lump in her throat. A familiar presence is in the center of this mess. Light should talk to him. It won’t be helpful but she should. Before she can make her choice, a strange voice calls out.
“Hello? Helllooo?” The muffled voice seems to be coming from the photograph pinned to a tree with a knife. Requiem yanks the knife out, observing that it's just a bent butterknife jammed in with considerable force. The photo drifts down like a falling knife, landing right at Light’s feet.
“Has Saint Fiacre abandoned us?” Requiem asks no one in particular, eyeing up the dead tree. The bark is so dry and brittle and its core so rotted and flake it’s no wonder someone managed to stake it with such a measly utensil.
“Oh it’s you,” the figure in the photo spits. She looks like a young, emaciated girl, with sunken cheeks, standing in the wreckage of a humanoid containment cell. She looks familiar, but not familiar enough for Light to put a name to.
“Do we know each other?”
Requiem turns around, offering Light only a weary stare. “Are you quite alright?”
She in the photo smirks. “Of course we’ve met before, Sophie. The end of the world just loves to follow you, doesn’t it?”
Light blinks once. Right. Right, she thinks, how do she forget her darling friend Lily?
“Oh,” she says, a little in awe despite herself. “Reqqy, come here, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
An eyebrow quirked, doing nothing to hide her concern, Requiem approaches. Lily carries a similar confused look, though better hidden under a layer of smug authority. All Requiem sees is a corpse lying in the corner of the wreckage. She tries not to look too closely in case she recognizes them.
“I’m so glad we’re able to meet up like this again, this place has been so boring. People dying too quickly for me to get anywhere. But with you here now, you’ll help me regain my strength, won’t you? You’d love to help me.” Lily’s grin turns sharklike.
Light drops to her knees before the picture. “I would like to help you.” She scratches at her head, trying to piece together what she was doing before this. Clearly this is the most important thing she should be focusing on.
Requiem takes a stick and pokes it through the photo, lifting it off the ground. Lily flinches away from the puncture.
“What the fuck is happening?!”
“Stop that! She doesn’t like being messed with!” Light snatches the picture away and flattens out the hole.
“Who’s there? Why can’t I see who’s with you.” Through Light’s eyes, Lily can tell there should be someone else there, but there’s nothing for Lily to grasp on to.
“You’re concerning me,” Requiem takes the photo back and holds it in the air. Curse her for being tall.
“Give that back!” Light takes a step forward and Requiem takes a step back. Light furrows her brows and lunges out, teeth bared. Requiem easily side steps her.
“Forgive me father, but this is not our business.” Requiem rips the photo in half. Lily’s scream echoes painfully around Light’s skull, and just as quickly disappears from memory altogether.
“What are we doing?”
“We’re going around this forest to reach Site-19.” Requiem drops the photo shreds onto the ground. Light observes the forest, she takes off her coat, double checking that her letter is still there. She hands her coat to Requiem, who takes it tenderly, like Light handed her something alive.
“I’m going in. I need you to go around and meet me on the other side.”
“My lord, you can’t go in alone!” Requiem sweats and grips the cross around her neck. It made sense she wouldn’t want Light alone, from her perception Light suddenly begins speaking to a photograph and the next moment she wants to wander into a very dead forest alone.
“If we both go in, my letter will rot. If you respect me as a person and our mission you’ll do as I’ve asked.”
“Apologies, I shouldn’t have questioned you.” For once Requiem’s… for a lack of a better term, worship, works out in Light’s favor.
“Stay as far away from this area as you can. I promise to meet up with you.” She rolls up her sleeves and forces her way in.
Requiem watches her disappear. Once she’s well out of sight, Requiem fishes the letter out and carefully breaks the seal. She knows she’s committing a sin, going against her lord like this, but she’s curious before she is faithful.
She reads the letter over, then reads it again. A weak sigh escapes her. She refolds the letter and carefully fixes the seal. No one would ever know she read it.
“Saint Christopher, be my guide.” Gathering her senses, Requiem begins her trek around.
The brambles grow thicker the deeper Light goes. She can’t see two inches in front of her but she knows she’s getting closer to the center. She takes another step of faith and the ground gives out beneath her.
She’s tumbling through thorn bushes and dried vines and a myriad of other dead and angry things. She tries to dig her heels into the ground to slow her descent but the soles of her shoes tear out. Thorns bury into her feet and a thick bramble wraps around her head.
Then, the world stops moving. It’s an effort to get back on her feet and rip the thorns out. She throws her useless shoes to the side and bites her lip through the pain. A clearing opens up and there he is.
“Yeshua…” The man, who was sitting on a dead tree stump, stands and approaches cautiously. “Forgive me, Sophia… and friend.” He stares at the place where Nobody stands. Light had thought she was alone.
“Qayin… What are you doing here?”
“What am I- What are you doing here? You look like shit…” Qayin, or, she supposes Cain would be more accurate, takes her hand.
“I’m trying to get back to Site-19.”
“Ah. You have a death wish.”
“Yeah well… I’m going to get there and I’m going to fix this.”
“Oh really? What are you going to do when you get there?”
“I’m going to speak to the site director!”
“And tell them what?”
“I have a letter!”
“A letter? What does it say?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I know I wrote it! And I know that I need to get it to Site-19.”
“And then what? Have you taken a hard look around the world? Do you really think whatever note you wrote for yourself will fix this?”
Light grinds her teeth. “Does the black moon howl?”
Cain pauses for several moments before breaking out into a weak smile. “Yes… I suppose it does.” He casts his eyes upward to the ever gray sky.
Light sighs. “I know that I can fix this. That we can fix this. I thought I owed you a visit.”
“I appreciate it. I really do wish you the best in your… endeavors. I would walk you out but… I think we’d both prefer I stay here.”
“Yeah. Good luck Cain. I hope you find peace.”
“I… will try.”
Light gives her friend one last look. She forces her way through the bramble, hoping this time the ground will remain solid.
“Why are you following me?” She asks Nobody. “If you wanted something from Site-19 you could’ve followed Requiem.” Nobody opens her mouth. “Nevermind, don’t answer that. I won’t remember anyway.”
Nobody sighs, or at least Light assumes that sound came from Nobody.
Once out of the woods it takes a moment to find Requiem. Even with the extra detours, it’s certainly faster going through than around. Light hears Requiem sprinting towards her before she sees her.
“Darling, your feet!”
After a while Light stopped feeling them. They are drenched in blood.
“My shoes got torn.” A bit of an understatement, her pants were more holes than pants and her shirt half rotted in Cain’s presence.
“Please, I beg of you to have a seat.” Requiem bows and gestures towards a flat rock. Light complies; she can smell the smoke coming from Site-19.
Requiem takes off her shirt, leaving herself in an undershirt. Light politely tries to avert her gaze but Nobody seems to want to stand wherever Light is trying to look. Using her teeth and the knife, Requiem tears her shirt into strips to use as bandages.
“Take these.” Requiem presents her boots.
“You don’t need to do all that, we’re so close.”
“Please?” Light doesn’t like the look Requiem is giving her, feels a little too familiar. She takes Requiem’s shoes, if only to get her to stop.
…
Site-19 looks almost untouched. Vines and plants surround the building like webbing. Looking at it gives Light a sinking feeling in her stomach, like how one gets standing before a great drop. A man in a suit leans against the wall next to the entrance, puffing a cigarette.
“Breaking my own rules a little here, but I wouldn’t feel right not offering.” He holds out a lit cigarette.
“No thank you.” Light attempts to say something more but she can’t find her words. Requiem takes the cigarette, bringing the smoke with them into the stomach of the Foundation.
Light glances over her shoulder one last time. The man in a suit is gone, leaving Nobody out there. They make eye contact for several moments. Nobody follows them in.
It’s always been too cold down here. The floor is slightly slick and the lights don’t turn on. Somewhere, a deep, guttural growl echoes out from the depths.
“Darling, I don’t think anyone’s here,” Requiem whispers.
“There has to be. There has to be.” Light starts walking to Moose’s office. It may be dark but she knows this place. With some hesitation, Requiem follows.
“Wait, wait one second.” Requiem grabs her by the shoulder and tugs her into a room labeled: DESIGNATED EXTRA-UNIVERSAL SMOKING ROOM. The smoke from her cigarette wafts through the ceiling and disappears. Light, not being a smoker, has never been in here before. It’s quiet, the cleanest room she’s seen so far.
“I’d like to talk for a bit, before we go any further.” She sits down on a bench. Nobody sits beside her, leaving no room for Light.
“We don’t have time for this.”
“Why not?” She gives her a pleading look that’s hard to say no to. “I believe Saint Expeditus will give us time. Please, stay with me for a moment.”
“Okay… What is it you want to talk about?”
She hesitates, grinding the cigarette’s filter between her teeth. “I don’t think there’s anything down here for us. This is a waste of time and we should leave before I lose y-” she swallows, “before we get killed.”
Several emotions flash across Light’s face, eventually landing on cold fury. “I’m not forcing you to come down here with me. You can wait outside for all I care.”
Requiem frowns. “I wouldn’t do that, my darling. I only want to say-”
A perfectly well spoken and reasonable concern flows from Requiem’s lips. A concern that never reaches Light’s ears over the rush of her own blood. Of course Requiem would never understand what Lights needs to do.
“I’m going to find Tilda,” Light says sharply, cutting Requiem off mid sentence. “If you don’t want to help us fix things, fine.” She turns on her heel to leave the smoking room before she remembers that Requiem still holds her important letter. Confident enough that Requiem would see this through with her, she refuses to go back in to ask for it.
Nobody strides out after her and Light pretends not to notice.
For several moments, Requiem stares at the empty space Light just should. She stubs out her cigarette against the wall and picks a random direction to flick it away. She pulls out her cross necklace from out of her shirt, presses a kiss to its surface, and prays she will be forgiven for questioning her Lord’s will.
If it is God’s will she go down with her Lord, then she will face destiny with dignity.
Moose’s office is empty. Light bites her lip. She tries the computer, which surprisingly lights up, prompting her for a passcode. She tries her login information.
Denied.
She tries it again.
Denied. What the hell is going on?
She glances at Requiem. Everything’s gone to shit anyway, who cares what Requiem sees. Light tries her other passcode. This one gets her in. The first thing she sees makes her heart stop.
The following is a message composed via consensus of the O5 Council.
For those who are not currently aware of our existence, we represent the organization known as the SCP Foundation. Our previous mission centered around the containment and study of anomalous objects, entities and other assorted phenomena. This mission was the focus of our organization for more than one-hundred years.
Due to circumstances outside of our control, this directive has now changed. Our new mission will be the extermination of the human race.
There will be no further communication.
This can’t be right. They wouldn’t have done this! It’s not fair!
“Light…” Light flinches as Requiem rests a hand on her shoulder. She hadn’t noticed how tense she was, she feels a bit lightheaded.
After clicking out of the message she’s greeted by another lovely sight. A list of names and statuses. She scrolls through quickly, looking for anyone she recognizes. Something scratches at the ceiling above her.
Adams, Andrea - Dead.
…fuck.
Aktus, Jean - Unknown.
Bridge, Django - Dead.
Unlikely to be of any help anyway.
Clef, Alto - Dead.
Good, honestly. With all the old friends and enemies she’s run into, she was surprised they haven’t crossed paths yet. She hopes it was slow.
Elliot, Chelsea - Dead.
Gears, Charlies - Unknown.
Of course, if he’s still alive somewhere, he’ll know what’s going on here. Maybe she’ll find him and they’ll fix this together. She scrolls down to the Ls.
Lament, Troy - Dead.
It takes her a moment to identify this emotion as relief, followed quickly by shame once it hits her. He didn’t deserve this, any of this. At least he got out quickly…
Light, Sophia - Dead.
Requiem, Rebecca - Dead.
That can’t be right.
Light could sit here for hours flipping through names, putting together theories, it would certainly do her a whole lot of good. She glances at her letter. Site-19 director’s eyes only. Shutting out everything else, she scrolls back the to Ms.
Moose, Tilda - Dead.
… well so much for that.
“Dissssssssguuussssting,” hisses the walls. The creeping feeling crawling down Light’s spine is impossible to ignore now.
“No. No no no no-” She pulls the message back up. Our new mission will be the extermination of the human race. “No. No they wouldn’t have.” Her head pounds. They wouldn’t have done this without telling her. Did they tell her? The gap in her mind aches.
“Sophie…?” Requiem inches closer to her, resting her hands on Light’s hips. The growling and rummaging above grew louder.
“IIIIII reeeemember youuuuuu… IIIII knowwww yooou’reee thereee.”
Requiem inches backwards, pulling Light with her.
“It’s not fair! We didn’t hurt anyone, did we? Why would they do this?” She shakes in Requiem’s grasp, her breaths sharp and quick.
The ceiling collapses, crushing the desk and damn near crushing the three of them. SCP-682 roars and Light gets a suffocating view of its maw. They run for it, despite knowing very well they’re running through a goddamn labyrinth.
Light can’t see shit all. Her own blood and sweat drips into her eyes. Still, she runs on blindly until her head smacks, full force, against a broken ceiling beam. A bee flies out of her mouth and she hits the ground.
Dazed and confused, Light does nothing as Requiem drags her limp body into a storage closet. Requiem drags a shelf in front of the door, like that’ll do anything more than buy them a few more seconds. Nobody kneels by Light’s side.
“We can’t die here…” Light mumbles, her jaw not quite moving correctly. Requiem sits beside her, letting out a heavy sigh. The lizard slams its full bodyweight against the door, making the building rumble.
“This place is- is crawling with secret exits. We need to find a way out!” Light sits up and immediately falls back as the vertigo smacks her. She touches her forehead and pricks her palm on the crown of thorns. “I still need to fix this. We have to find- Archivist!” She thinks of the death records, someone’s got to be maintaining those, “or- or anyone who’s still alive! This isn’t over.”
“Sophia.” At the sound of her first name coming from Requiem’s lips, Light freezes. Requiem slowly pulls the letter out of Light’s coat and holds it out. “I think you should read this.”
“I don’t know what I wrote. I could’ve put some failsafe in it.”
“My lord…” The beast outside howls and takes a chunk out of the door. Light can see into its unfeeling eyes. A piece of the ceiling breaks off and crashes before them. She takes the letter.
To Sophia Light,
In about three minutes they’re going to start pumping amnestics in through the vents. They’re going to round us up in the middle of the site and bomb us. Everyone will die, except for me of course because I’m special like that.
I won’t waste time explaining the situation to you. I know me, and I know I wouldn’t want to believe what’s going on. But it is happening, I can kick and scream all I want but this was always going to happen. I know that the only way to guarantee my death is to lure myself into a deathtrap.
I have a feeling Moose will be dead by the time I lay eyes on this again, along with everyone I ever knew. I pray that I realize this some other way than finding her rotting corpse somewhere. If, by the very slim chance she survives long enough to see me again, then I hope she remembers to kill me.
You’re fucked, me. You were born fucked, and you’ve spread that fucked energy to everyone you’ve ever met. And now you’re going to die in this fucked up hell hole again. Seems fitting.
Tell Requiem you’re sorry for dragging her into this.
-Sophia Light
“I’m sorry…” Light whispers, hugging the letter to her chest. Requiem reaches out and gently dabs up each tear as they fall.
“Why are you sorry, my lord?”
“I dragged you here. I dragged you to your death.”
“There would be no greater honor than to die here with you.” Requiem smiles and Light sees acceptance fill her features. Requiem knew this was going to be her fate. It’s selfish, Light thinks, how much she doesn’t want to die alone.
Nobody is in there with them. She sits down on the ground beside them. Light can see her face clearly for the first time ever. She looks exactly like Light shouldn’t remember. Light chokes on a sob.
“I’m sorry…” She whispers and reaches out to stroke Mars’s cheek. Her hand doesn’t quite reach, though Mars leans in like it does.
Mars says nothing, not as though Light would ever remember if she did. Light tries to keep her eyes on Mars for as long as possible, fearing the second she closes them the memory will lose her. Mars reaches out, resting her hand on top of Light’s. Light leans into Requiem’s arms.
“Saint Joseph, I thank you for your embrace.”
The door bursts down and-