The Monster's Room - Chapter 7
“Am I hugging you too tightly?”
The pressure around her neck was more intense than expected. Marie, paying close attention to adjusting the strength, gently stroked the doll’s back. She could feel it resting its head on her shoulder.
Pat pat.
After a while of patting, the doll that had been hugging her neck tightly began to go limp.
<Mission complete. D-1705, please return.>
Unlike the jelly eraser, the stuffed toy didn’t seem sensitive to sound, as a clear, firm voice announced through the room. Marie nodded and placed the doll back on the cushion.
That was it.
The mission was unexpectedly easy, rendering her previous worries moot.
* * *
This time, there were no further tests. The contact involved with hugging the doll appeared to be acceptable.
Beep beep beep.
“Hmm.”
Returning to her room, Marie collapsed onto her bed, falling into a deep sleep. She woke up to the alarm and ruffled her hair.
The silky strands slipped through her fingers.
“…?”
Sensing something unusual, Marie grabbed a handful of her hair. To her surprise, the thick, black hair she held felt foreign.
“Is this a dream?”
Marie was unfamiliar with the shiny, smooth hair. Her natural hair was always thin and frizzy. She needed to wake up from this dream. Muttering to herself, she went to wash her face, only to stop in her tracks again.
Her skin was smooth.
The sensation of her palm touching her skin was impossibly soft and moist. It was too vivid to be just a dream, and Marie felt a shiver down her spine.
She had gone to bed without showering or even washing her face the previous day. Her skin should have been greasy on the outside and rough on the inside.
Marie, feeling increasingly unsettled, stood up and headed for the bathroom.
“What is this?”
She was astonished by her reflection in the mirror. Her vibrant, fresh appearance seemed alien. Her previously frizzy hair was now glossy and black. Her skin was baby-soft. Despite these changes being limited to just these aspects, she felt like a completely different person.
“Is this a dream?”
Pinching her cheeks, Marie felt pain, but she also noticed that her fingertips had changed. The usual hangnails and the sting from her skin, which was always irritated, had completely vanished.
Feeling a sense of dread at this bizarre phenomenon, Marie immediately contacted the Foundation. Their response was somewhat indifferent.
<D-1705’s physical condition is normal.>
“But…
<Currently, D-1705’s condition is due to SCP-▉▉▉2 removing various bruises and inflammations from the body. Therefore, please proceed with today’s mission.>
“……”
The screen turned off abruptly, as if refusing to entertain any further objections. The stern voice was no longer audible. Marie, instinctively running her fingers through her hair, shuddered at the unfamiliar smooth sensation.
Now that she thought about it. Her sprained ankle from yesterday no longer hurt.
She found the tablet and pulled up the information on the jelly eraser again. Among the detailed data, one line caught her eye.
Sometimes it only removes rare cancers or various diseases and lets them go.
Though the phrasing was vague, it seemed that the jelly eraser from yesterday had provided some beneficial effects. And today, she had to meet that jelly again.
“……”
Marie felt as dispirited as an office worker facing another Monday.
* * *
Managing SCPs felt like playing a game with quests.
Five days into her job at the Foundation.
“Still not enough with just water?”
Marie had become quite accustomed to managing SCPs.
More precisely, she had adapted to the relentless explorations of her body by the jelly eraser. The jelly eraser, which required more than 10mL of water daily, drank water and craved Marie’s bodily fluids as well.
Since she had no power to refuse this SCP, she had to accept the tendrils rubbing against her.
But the truly surprising thing was something else.
“……Start with a kiss.”
Slosh.
The jelly eraser seemed to be listening to her now. While it wouldn’t respond to requests for objects, it was cooperating in other ways.
“Mmm. Huh.”
In terms of their interactions, it had become extraordinarily accommodating.
This led to the researchers, thrilled by the cooperation, attempting to add various experiments, but it was dramatically put on hold. The reason was simple: provoking the jelly eraser recklessly could result in losing a rare subject—something they were no longer trying to hide.
As a result, Marie felt confident that her value to them was significant. To avoid being discarded easily, she had to further increase that value.
“Ah, there.”
Marie focused on her relationship with the SCP. She wasn’t aiming to tame the creature but knew that even the hint of such a possibility would prevent the Foundation from treating her carelessly.
“Don’t melt the clothes…”
In just five days of interactions with the jelly eraser, Marie managed to persuade it not to dissolve her clothes, following her successful negotiation to avoid being naked every time. It was a relief, and she had proven her value.
But her calculating thoughts were short-lived.
“Ah.”
The jelly eraser extended its long tongue, pressing it against her cli–ris and then moving it steadily from her va–na to her an-l. It seemed like it wanted to use that area today as well, judging by the way its tongue was poking at her.
Marie, pulling down her panties, felt a strange sensation as the undulating tendrils wrapped around her ankles. She often twisted her ankles, and today was one of those days when it was particularly painful.
