The Monster's Room - Chapter 43
Case Open: Attack
From the moment she opened her eyes, something felt off. The chill settling at the tip of her nose made Marie instantly aware that her drowsiness was gone.
“Spie, gel?”
Even calling out the name of the closest monster brought no response. Marie blinked and squinted, trying to focus her blurry vision.
“Spiegel?”
The ceiling above her was grimy and dusty.
Marie’s uneasy feeling made her roll her eyes around to survey her surroundings. It seemed like she was still in Spiegel’s shattered mirror room from before she dozed off.
However, it looked as if it had been left unattended for a long time, with dust and cobwebs everywhere, and the mirrors couldn’t even properly reflect her image.
“Why…?”
Something was wrong.
Marie awkwardly propped herself up and looked around. One wall had collapsed, with shattered mirror pieces scattered on the floor, covered with dust and cobwebs like a blanket. Realizing she was barefoot, she had to carefully watch the floor to avoid stepping on the broken glass.
“Spiegel.”
Marie placed her hand on her chest and tilted her head. It seemed their contract hadn’t been broken yet, but the signal was lost, as if obscured by noise.
Breathing in the dry, cool air, Marie pressed herself against one wall. While brushing off the dust from the dirty mirror with her hand, she flinched from the sharp pain she felt.
“Ouch.”
The mirror, which had been too dirty to see clearly, was actually covered in tiny cracks smaller than her fingernails. It was no surprise she cut herself while handling it with bare hands.
“J—”
Marie unconsciously called for J. The transparent jelly eraser. The monster that would approach eerily to heal her wounds and insert its tentacles into her private areas. Yet, even with her call, J didn’t respond.
Her chest tightened.
Marie tried to steady her ragged breathing.
‘Think.’
It was a habit she had developed over time. When something felt wrong or dangerous, she would repeat this phrase to herself to stay calm.
‘Think.’
There had to be a reason for this situation. Calming her agitation, Marie began to assess the situation calmly. Her palm stung, but the pain felt oddly distant. The lighting was also strange; the fluorescent lights were out, yet the interior, which resembled a wasteland, was clearly visible.
If there were even a window, it might be understandable, but this place is located underground in the SCP Foundation. When the lights go out, it should be pitch black.
“Hmm.”
So, there are three possibilities to consider:
First, this is a dream.
Second, she has awakened after being in a state similar to cryogenic sleep, and it’s far into the future.
Third, the world has suddenly ended.
“……”
With her arms crossed, Marie tapped her forearm with her index finger, her head tilting to the side as another possibility came to mind.
Fourth,
John Doe’s attack has begun.
“Ah.”
As soon as she realized this, her foggy mind cleared up like a mirror surface.
* * *
There’s a saying, “Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be in danger in a hundred battles.”
This saying seemed almost tailored for John Doe. What this means is that a central figure of the Foundation, a scientist who had devoted his life to studying anomalous entities, was now on the run, making him virtually impossible to find.
However, it wasn’t that no progress had been made. They had at least discovered why he had been able to escape so effectively.
Hide-and-Seek Notebook.
Future Phone.
These items, previously managed by the Foundation, had been declassified due to losing their anomalous properties. But it turned out their abilities were still intact, and John Doe had manipulated records to steal them.
These SCPs were key to his successful escape.
First, the notebook.
The Hide-and-Seek Notebook allows its user to hide by writing a name in it, during which time no computer records would be recorded no matter what. However, the user must evade an unseen seeker for a month; if caught, all records except the written name are erased, and the user becomes the new seeker.
The Foundation concluded that John Doe had used this notebook to fend off their and Spiegel’s pursuit. It was inconceivable that he could have evaded capture otherwise.
But the most crucial item John Doe stole was the phone.
The Future Phone.
Remarkably, this device connected with ‘myself in the future’ and provided crucial information needed in the present.
The first call provided methods for success.
The next call offered ways to avoid danger.
At first glance, it might seem like an unparalleled treasure, but this SCP could only be used three times per person. The reason being:
The third call reveals ‘when I will die’.
This contact is unavoidable because the device follows the target until the information is delivered. The longest anyone has endured without going insane from the bell was a year.
Therefore, the Foundation anticipated that John Doe would raid within a year at most, or even within a month…
“AAE base.”
That prediction turned out to be correct.
John Doe appeared not at Marie’s location but at a different base. Having succeeded in evading the seeker from the Hide-and-Seek Notebook for a month, he demonstrated the abilities of his ‘methods for success’ on the CCTV screens, broadcasting the scene across the entire base.
The broadcasted footage was truly shocking.
