The Monster's Room - Chapter 15
Marie was calm, and SCP was…
– That’s enough. You can ask your question now.
SCP, having contained its emotions, nonchalantly granted permission for Marie to ask her question.
It seemed ready to answer anything, giving the impression that it would respond to whatever was asked.
If there had been researchers or other field agents present, they might have used this opportunity to ask something they had been curious about for a lifetime or a clever question that would benefit them.
However, Marie wasn’t that clever or desperate.
“What’s your name?”
She asked simply what was most on her mind at the moment. The SCP’s expression changed as it had during the kiss. Its eyes were dark, filled with a deep and overwhelming desire.
But as Marie finished writing the letters and looked up, the SCP once again pretended to be ignorant and harmless, blowing a breath onto the mirror surface.
– My name is Spiegel.
“Spiegel…”
– “See you again, Marie.”
<Door opening>
The door, which had been firmly shut, now opened.
* * *
Marie didn’t initially realize it was such a big deal.
It wasn’t unusual for her to encounter unexpected events not covered in reports.
For instance, she had had s-x with the transparent jelly eraser and participated in group s-x with the dancers at the Marionette Troupe…..everything seemed to end up revolving around s-x, and she assumed this new occurrence would be no different.
It wasn’t until she found herself in what resembled an office for the first time that she understood her mistake.
“Spiegel? It called itself Spiegel?”
“It’s German. It means mirror.”
“I thought it was something based on folklore or curses, but it might just be a fairy tale.”
“Like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?”
“That fairy tale is German, right?”
“Technically, it’s a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. It’s derived from German folklore…”
“But does the mirror in the story have the same powers as the Shattered Mirror?”
“Wasn’t that question asked by the stepmother?”
“The original story features the biological mother.”
“OMG.”
The office, divided by partitions, was in complete chaos. People were frantically working to back up information, others were demanding further investigation before backing up, some were verifying reference materials, and others were shouting about issues with cooperation documents for experiments.
It was more chaotic than any SCP containment space Marie had seen.
Marie soon saw the results of the chaos on her tablet.
[Shattered Mirror (Spiegel)]
Serial Number:SCP-▉▉▉4
Class: Keter
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.
A fourth question may be asked with Spiegel’s permission.
“……”
Marie was fascinated to see that this information was updated in real time. It was remarkable how the information she discovered through her management was reflected so quickly. But why wasn’t her encounter with the anomalous situation involving s-x included?
“It seems to be related to security clearance.”
A passing researcher answered Marie’s curiosity.
“If the clearance is low, I can see it. If it’s high, it’s usually redacted in black, right?”
However, Marie’s affairs were not listed at all. Usually, there would be a separate document explaining why the containment procedures were as such, but Marie was completely absent from Spiegel’s details. When she asked, the researcher shrugged.
“One possibility is that the security clearance hasn’t been assigned, so it’s not listed. The other possibility is…”
“Connor! What are you doing?”
“Oh, I need to go.”
“Wait a minute. What’s the other possibility?”
The researcher shared the other possibility before leaving.
“The security clearance is too high for it to be databased.”
“Connor!”
After the researcher left, Marie reflected on the situation.
It seemed that information was not included due to the lack of assigned security clearance. Indeed, if she had a hardcore s-x report, she would also be concerned about the clearance level.
* * *
Connor, recalling D-1705 returning to her quarters, scratched the back of his neck. Although he had read how she had changed based on the reports, seeing it in person felt quite different.
The once haggard Asian woman had transformed almost like a metamorphosis in less than ten days.
“Didn’t she become more beautiful in just one day?”
“Amelia.”
“Simply removing toxins wouldn’t cause such physical changes.”
Connor said, shrugging his shoulders with his hands in his lab coat pockets. It was a gesture of uncertainty. After all, he was a newcomer to the team.
“I’ve already submitted the experimental plan.”
“For the control group?”
“Yes.”
“Are they going to approve it?”
“It’s a close call. Only eight people have been completely removed, and since the original number of victims was in single digits, we can add more to the experimental group.”
“Oh, right. Excluding the completely removed ones, it’s just eight.”
Amelia’s sharp observation made Connor smile. He knew well that his comment was little more than a play on words.