The Monster's Room - Chapter 14
Marie rubbed her cheek against the cotton doll. She had the odd feeling that the cotton doll was smiling along with her. Having completed her daily tasks, she was immediately escorted by people in protective suits for various examinations.
The results showed no abnormalities.
Her mental state was also intact.
Marie briefly marveled at her lack of anxiety, but that was all. She was surprisingly calm and collected, and perhaps because of this impressive demeanor, the SCP Foundation began to grant her small concessions.
First, her living quarters.
The accommodations, which were a bit better than a prison, had become quite comfortable. The space had been expanded, and additional furniture had been added. The blankets were soft, and the mattress was firm.
What she liked most was the new couch that allowed her to comfortably lean and lie down.
There were also cassette tapes and a tape player, so she could play whatever music she wanted. Thanks to this, her quarters had become a place not just for sleeping, but for relaxation.
After waking up in the improved environment, Marie organized her task schedule:
Daily: SCP-▉▉▉1, SCP-▉▉▉2
Weekly: SCP-▉▉▉3
Ten Days: SCP-▉▉▉5
Monthly: SCP-▉▉▉4
Changing into names instead of serial numbers
Daily: Plush cotton doll, Transparent Jelly Eraser
Weekly: Marionette Troupe Leader
Ten Days: Iron Horse Knight
Monthly: Shattered Mirror
A week into her assignment, Marie was doing better than expected. The Foundation had started accommodating her requests for dates and times, and she could even access some of her predecessor’s task logs, allowing her to know in advance when her monthly tasks were due.
It would have been better if they had done this sooner.
Marie muttered quietly, gathering her hair, which flowed smoothly like a television shampoo commercial, and tied it up before getting ready.
* * *
The risk level for the Shattered Mirror, a monthly task, was Keter. It was a step higher than the Transparent Jelly Eraser or the Marionette Troupe Leader, but its management was straightforward.
Special Containment Procedures:
Contain in a room with mirrors on all sides. Only one mirror should be visible at a time. Once a month, send a person to reflect the mirror, and the SCP will ask three questions. The person must answer them. Failure to respond results in a penalty.
Marie considered the Shattered Mirror to be relatively straightforward. Given the SCP Foundation’s criteria for risk levels, including resources, understanding, and danger, she thought that the Shattered Mirror’s low rating might be due to slow progress in understanding its nature.
In fact, compared to other SCPs, it had the least documentation, and Marie nodded in agreement with her own speculation.
Or maybe not.
She walked through the familiar white corridor and stood in front of the room containing SCP-▉▉▉4.
<SCP-▉▉▉4 door opening.>
With the announcement, the door opened. Having done this several times, Marie confidently stepped inside.
Chirr.
As described in the reports, the containment area was surrounded by mirrors on all sides: the ceiling, walls, and floor. What was peculiar was that the mirrors were all cracked. It looked like they had either aged or been damaged, causing unintended cracks.
Marie looked around and leaned against a wall. Aside from the cracks, the mirrors were spotless, with no fingerprints. As she observed her clearly reflected image, she noticed a stray hair and reached to fix it but paused when she saw her reflection raise the opposite hand.
Ah, a mistake.
The smiling mouth in the mirror looked sly.
– Hello.
Regardless of Marie’s distracted state, the SCP, which resembled her in the mirror, wrote on the glass with its breath fogging the surface.
– What’s your name?
Was the sound not coming through the mirror? Marie tilted her head, then, to respond to the SCP’s question, she exhaled onto the mirror. However, the mirror creature grinned as if its mouth would split open.
Oh, there might be a trap. Marie nodded once and began writing with a scratchy sound.
ɘ i ɿ ɒ m
Perfectly reversed text from the opposite side of the mirror. The SCP’s laughter stopped immediately. Marie continued writing confidently in reversed text.
I am Marie Garcia.
The increasingly distorted grin on the SCP’s face was oddly satisfying.
* * *
The Shattered Mirror asked exactly three questions:
– What’s your name?
– How long have you been here?
– What do you like?
The questions felt like something a child would ask on a playground. Marie answered diligently.
Her name was Maria Garcia, she had been here for just a few days, and as for what she liked…
She paused for a moment, then wrote down something she had recently grown fond of.
Kissing.
Though she was beginning to appreciate the pleasures of s-x, kissing was still her favorite part. It might sound hard to believe, but the hardest thing about her encounters with the dancers was not being able to kiss.
She gave a self-conscious smile as she thought about it, but the SCP in the mirror moved closer.
– Do you want to kiss me?
This was a fourth question that wasn’t mentioned in the report.
As Mary stood there in surprise, new text appeared on the mirror’s surface.
– If you kiss me, you’ll get to ask a question too.
The decision didn’t take long.
A kiss seemed like a small price to pay.
After all, she had just a few days ago been involved in 3P and 4P with the dancers. Mary leaned in and kissed the mirror.
Where her lips touched, the SCP’s lips mirrored the exact spot. The reflection was perfectly symmetrical, but their expressions were different.
