The Monster's Room - Chapter 17
The sign on the wall was identical to the one in the area where she had been. Looking around, Marie noticed that the corridor was similarly white.
The only difference was that this corridor was longer, with a fork in the path at the end.
“D-1705?”
“Oh, yes.”
As she stood there in a daze, a person approached her. Though they were wearing a protective suit like Marie’s, obscuring their face, she could tell from their voice and build that the person was a tall man.
“Nice to meet you. I’m D-911, the one you’ll be working with.”
“911?”
“Everyone seems to covet this serial number. As a result, my nickname has become ‘Call’.”
“Should I call you something else?”
“Please use my real name if possible. I’ve been called by my serial number so much that I’m starting to forget my own name.”
Marie was moved by the words of D-911, whose real name was Kevin Harris. She too felt a sense of sympathy.
The researchers, who acted like mad scientists, had only referred to her by her serial number, and the reports also used the serial number. After just eight days, she was starting to forget her own name.
“Mr. Harris?”
“Please call me Kevin. My cursed supervisor’s surname is Harris, so it’s a bit…”
“Alright, Kevin.”
“Great. May I call you Marie?”
“Yes.”
After the introductions, Marie learned from Kevin about their task for the day. They only needed to enter a single room. Its name was ‘One Hour Cafe Table’. This SCP, classified as Safe, was a cafe table. The task was simply to sit and talk for an hour.
“The conditions aren’t difficult. Play music, drink tea, and keep talking non-stop for an hour.”
“That’s it?”
“If you go over an hour, you’ll need to place an additional order and leave a tip.”
“That sounds pretty straightforward.”
“Except for the fact that the tip is a body part.”
No more, no less than an hour. Silence could not exceed one minute, they couldn’t talk over each other, and they couldn’t indiscriminately repeat the same words. As Marie listened to the detailed precautions, she understood why this SCP had a low threat level.
When the response method is clear and the only cost is to expend the rights of expendable subjects, the Foundation tends to assign a lower threat level.
When Marie mentioned this, Kevin raised an eyebrow and said:
“You’ve already grasped the essence of this place.”
“…….”
It wasn’t a compliment she particularly wanted to hear.
* * *
The space where the One Hour Cafe Table was contained was decorated like a clean city cafe.
Marie felt a peculiar nostalgia as if she had returned to normal life, following Kevin to the counter to place their order before sitting at the table. Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, their ordered drinks were already on the table.
Kevin, who had set up a tablet, pointed to it.
00:59:57
From now on, they had to talk non-stop without any one-minute silence. Marie already felt parched.
“Ah, it seems like we’ve become proper customer.”
Kevin, who had removed his protective suit mask, took a deep breath.
“This place doesn’t allow you to breathe if you’re not a customer. It’s a hassle to carry an oxygen tank every time you come in.”
With the mask off, Kevin appeared as a robust middle-aged man. His short-cropped hair and angular jaw made him look like a strict soldier.
“You can remove your mask too, Marie.”
But when he smiled, making wrinkles appear around his eyes, his stern appearance completely changed. Marie slowly took off her mask, observing his pleasant expression. He was surprised by her unmasked face but didn’t comment further on her appearance.
“What should we talk about?”
Instead, he focused on the immediate need. Marie could sense his veteran demeanor in that aspect.
“How long have you been here, Kevin?”
“Three days in E Section.”
“Had you been somewhere else before this?”
“Yes. Here, when a particular experiment concludes, they decide whether to use the same subject for another anomalous entity or not. If it’s the former, they’re assigned to another experiment; if it’s the latter, they’re immediately placed in a different location where there’s a manpower shortage.”
“Without any rest?”
“Have you had any rest, Marie?”
Marie hesitated in her reply. She was about to say yes.
Since starting her duties, she realized she hadn’t had a single day off.
“None, right?”
It was undeniably a sad situation.
Marie wanted to report this immediately to the labor board, but the Foundation, being an institution beyond the reach of any legal system, would undoubtedly ignore such complaints.
The only small comfort was that she wasn’t the only one affected.
“I understand that researchers also don’t get any time off.”
“Can they get away with that? What if they stage a boycott?”
“It seems there was an instance where a team staged a boycott to lower their workload.”
“Oh?”
“That team was demoted to D-Class status, and the talk of the boycott disappeared quickly.”
“And the demoted researchers…?”
“I heard they ended up producing excellent data.”
“……”
It was a bitter end for the researchers who had only wanted reasonable welfare.
“Still, this place is somewhat better. It’s probably the area with the lowest mortality rate in this facility.”
“Are other areas much more dangerous?”
“Just having one Euclid-class entity can drive up the mortality rate significantly.”
Managing one Safe class, three Euclid class, and one Keter class entities, Marie finally realized how dangerous her situation was.
Oh, dear God. Please bring down divine retribution upon the Foundation and John Doe.
Today, as always, Marie recited curses against the Foundation in her mind as if it were a daily prayer.
