The Monster's Room - Chapter 41
“You’re quite unlucky, getting your car to break down in a place like this.”
“It couldn’t be helped. I haven’t driven in a while and forgot to check the maintenance.”
“It would have been a disaster if no one had passed by.”
“Haha.”
Two men, their faces flushed red as the vast wasteland behind them, peered into the broken-down car.
The car’s owner, a thin white man, wiped his sweat with a somewhat obsessive fervor. In contrast, the other man, whose body was inflated like a balloon, sweated profusely as he revived the seemingly hopeless engine with his greasy hands.
“It’s fixed.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The man with the dirty hands wiped them on his front and listed a few precautions.
“To recap…”
“It’s alright. I’ve memorized everything.”
“Already?”
“Yes. It’s just a temporary fix, so it’ll only run about 20 miles at most. You said to head to a gas station about 12 miles away, find someone named Smith, and get his help to replace the equipment. He used to work at a garage, so he should be able to fix most things.”
“Correct. You’re quite sharp.”
“Learning precautions is something I’ve done all my life. Um, how about a can of cola to refresh yourself? I’ve kept it in an icebox, so it’s quite cold…”
The fat man chuckled at the suggestion from the thin man.
“Isn’t that cola for your daughter?”
“My daughter will understand. Besides, she doesn’t like cola much.”
“Good taste. She’ll live a long time.”
“I think so too.”
The thin man, John Doe, handed the can of cola to the fat man. The condensation on the surface made it look very refreshing.
“My name is Sel Smith. The Smith at the gas station 12 miles away is my nephew.”
“Oh. I’m John Doe.”
“Ah, John Doe. Were you and your daughter heading somewhere for a trip?”
“Well…”
John Doe, the thin man, looked out at the shimmering horizon, lifting the corners of his mouth. The bridge of his nose, where the glasses had rested, was marked with faint impressions.
“Smith, where were you headed?”
“Heading home. It’s lucky it’s vacation; if I were working like usual, I wouldn’t be able to offer such kindness. Time is always of the essence in this industry.”
Pop.
Sel opened the cola can in one smooth motion and drank it all at once. The sound of it was cheerful.
“Is it alright if I confess something?”
“I’m not a priest, but go ahead.”
Sel laughed as he’d seen all sorts of strange people. John Doe nodded and began to speak.
“I originally worked for an organization that secures, contains, and protects things that threaten the world.”
“Hmm?”
“To put it simply, I was a researcher at a place that captured and contained monsters.”
“Are you talking about something from a movie?”
“If that’s how you’d like to think of it.”
John Doe nodded and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.
“The monsters were surrounded by the unknown. Every time we dealt with them, many people died. Oh, so many died. It felt like humanity would perish before we could even capture all the monsters.”
“……”
“So, I thought it would be more efficient to deal with monsters using other monsters.”
“……”
“But creating such monsters wasn’t easy. The experiments sanctioned by the government and the organization were insufficient. Yes, truly insufficient.”
“……Ahem.”
“Do you know? The SCP Foundation is a supra-legal organization. It stands above the law. But it can’t break its own rules. Everything must be under the Foundation’s control. That’s how they manage things, or so they say.”
John Doe laughed.
“What’s the difference between standing above the law and not standing above the Foundation?”
He confessed that he couldn’t comply.
“The Foundation was wrong. If it was truly about saving the world, they should have acted more aggressively. It wasn’t enough just to secure and contain the monsters. They should have either eliminated them or properly controlled them.”
“……”
“I did what the Foundation couldn’t. The success I achieved from the project they used as a cover was unexpected, but there was no reason to cling to it anymore.”
“……”
“Exactly. That girl in the car.”
John Doe’s gaze shifted to the young girl sitting quietly in the passenger seat. The child, holding a stuffed animal, was asleep, her fingers bound with a band.
“There’s a successful specimen, so there’s no need to insist on using an incomplete one.”
“……”
“Ah, please hand me the empty can.”
John Doe took the cola can from Sel’s hand. He wiped the surface with his handkerchief and crumpled it. Ensuring nothing showed through. His gaze turned to Sel. The pallor of death was horrifying, with melted eyeballs, but John Doe didn’t flinch.
“I’m sorry. Eyes reflect one’s true nature.”
“……”
“Thank you for your kindness.”
* * *
As Brooks explained, Marie nodded.
“So I was just a bluff card.”
<Yes, that’s right.>
Marie felt as if she had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle.
Yes, the project centered around Marie had always had some flaws. Despite being classified, it had an ambiguous security clearance level that any hostile faction could detect, and the experimental plans and work instructions were alarmingly loose.
