The Monster's Room - Chapter 31
“About what you mentioned earlier.”
“There’s no time.”
“What do you mean by saying that I’m the key to the project?”
In truth, Marie had been vaguely suspecting it for some time, but she had been deliberately avoiding it. Yet she had to ask. She needed to confront the truth she had been evading.
She could no longer live in denial, pretending not to know or forget.
“You know too.”
“…”
“That even a person can be an SCP.”
The truth pierced through Marie.
Kevin pushed Marie away with a gentle yet firm force.
“Once the mission is complete, you’ll be assigned an appropriate classification and serial number.”
Marie was pushed away like a broken kite.
Some of the special forces who had been stationed behind her moved in to protect her, while the waiting team entered the first room at Kevin’s signal. Amidst the commotion, Marie couldn’t bring herself to look back.
The suspicions she had harbored for so long were now confirmed.
Her isolation had not been a matter of misfortune but rather a foreseen disaster.
Because.
She was indeed unlucky.
She was a monster.
Case 9: The Unforeseen Anomaly
The first team entered Room 1 calmly. From the serial number next to the containment door, they identified the room as housing the fluffy cotton doll anomaly.
Precaution:
Do not apply shock.
The provided information indicated that the most effective way was to retrieve it without attacking. It would return any absorbed shock in kind, so they just needed to be careful. Although it seemed like one of the easiest rooms, no one let their guard down.
Maintaining vigilance when dealing with anomalies was crucial. However, sometimes, or rather not infrequently, misfortune struck even with the highest alertness.
“Ahhh!”
Just like this.
The fluffy cotton doll stood near the door as usual. It was seated in a shadowed area, and a team member, failing to notice it, accidentally kicked it.
“My leg! My leg!”
“No, don’t touch it…!”
“Ahhhh!”
The kicked cotton doll embraced the team member’s leg with just enough force, and the sudden pain startled the team member, who reflexively exerted force to remove the doll.
Snap.
“…!”
The coton doll, having absorbed all the impact, severed the team member’s leg. A horrific scream echoed through the room. Realizing that further shock would be counterproductive, the team leader ordered the others to fall back.
“Damn it.”
But the cotton doll showed no intention of releasing them. The creature advanced towards them, arms outstretched.
“Flamethrower!”
“Set it on fire!”
While they were struggling, chaos erupted in the adjacent room as well.
Swoosh!
Team members swept up by the transparent jelly eraser had their bodies randomly erased. The loss of a few fingernails seemed trivial compared to the complete erasure of skulls, causing heads to collapse into mush.
“Ahhh! Break through! Break through! Create an escape route!!”
“Alpha Team, stand by! Stand by!”
Panic spread in all directions. The first team member to shout from the tub room was the first to die, and the person who had called for a stand-by also became a target for the tentacles, falling victim to their assault.
This was the price for momentarily forgetting the information that the anomaly was sensitive to noise.
“Don’t let your guard down! These are Apollyon-class monsters, even if temporarily!”
These were anomalies that could not be contained and had to be destroyed. The mindset for dealing with them was on a whole different level compared to other anomalies.
Kevin recalled the information he had previously learned. The strategies for the cotton doll and the transparent jelly eraser were relatively straightforward. The former was weak to fire, and the latter to drying out.
The problem was that both were located early in the F-49 sector. Setting fire here would block their escape routes. Since they had to pass through these rooms to eliminate the other SCPs, the teams responsible for rooms 1 and 2 had to stall.
Don’t back down; kill them!
Crack.
A team member embraced by the cotton doll took their final breaths. One team member belatedly used the flamethrower, but the space filled with toys was equipped with sprinklers.
Riiiing!
The confusing noise stimulated the transparent jelly eraser through the open containment door. Dozens, if not hundreds, of tentacles wavered from the tub, eyeing their prey.
And they had only just begun with the first and second rooms.
“Damn it.”
Kevin cursed.
There were still three more rooms left for them to tackle.
* * *
Leaving behind the screams of their colleague, the team entered the third room, remaining vigilant.
<Oh, my goodness.>
Click!
At the sudden noise, the team aimed their weapons, but all they found was an old gramophone.
The opera hall, dimly lit and filled with the musty smell of age, was the setting for the gramophone’s melancholy and dragging tune.
<You’ve come in before the theater even opened.>
“……”
<Such rudeness.>
The team members signaled each other. Some took charge of the gramophone, some explored the surroundings, and others prepared for an ambush.
<The lady I was waiting for hasn’t arrived yet♪>
Suddenly, the voice from the gramophone began to sing alone.
<Even though I yearn deeply for her kiss♬>
Creek.
<The Marionette waits in vain♩>
Creek, creak.
In the darkness, something was moving.
The heat sensors on their goggles picked up faceless dancers. The bodies glowed with a distinct red hue, while the heatless heads blended with the ambient temperature, making it appear as though only the bodies were moving about.
