The Monster's Room - Chapter 74
In the midst of it all, bringing Jay into the nightmare was another significant action.
In many ways, Marie could only be grateful to Spiegel.
– My love.
“Yeah.”
– The rest aren’t as useful as me. Indeed, the most important being to my queen is me, right? How about keeping a distance from those useless things?
And Spiegel remained as bad a personality as ever.
Marie almost felt her admiration wane but ended up smiling with relief.
– But how did you get out? Oh, I never doubted my love’s abilities. I was just a little curious.
“Ah, that…”
Marie hesitated to answer, closing her mouth. Although she didn’t look, her senses were directed towards the CCTV.
“Later.”
Understanding Marie’s intent, Spiegel nodded.
“But where’s the fluffy cotton doll?”
The MVP of the operation was undoubtedly the fluffy cotton doll. Marie asked about its whereabouts, recalling how it had spectacularly blown off John Doe’s head, and Spiegel’s eyes darted around.
– It’s approaching the sleeping child. It seems to want to hug her.
“…..!”
John Doe may have deserved it, but Mary Hunt did not. After all, it was a child. Marie rushed out in a panic, shouting,
“Stop it!”
– I’ll comply.
Marie couldn’t let her guard down even in reality.
* * *
The fluffy cotton doll was safely recovered. Marie sighed in relief and gently rubbed her cheek against the doll, which was nestled calmly in her arms.
“Good job. You were really the best.”
The doll hugged Marie’s neck tightly. It seemed to be expressing dissatisfaction with a little extra force.
“Uh, uh…”
“Hello?”
“Hoo…”
Meanwhile, the control room staff, just waking up, was confused. They had just emerged from a nightmare, and at that moment when reality and dream were indistinguishable, they were confronted with an even more surreal scene.
Flashing screens.
A corpse with a burst head.
A girl asleep in a chair with tears of blood, and a beautiful woman hugging a cute doll.
“SCP…?”
That was the only thing that made sense. At the woman’s beaming smile and nod, despite the instincts screaming warnings, she had an enchanting, fairy-like face.
“Uh, um, I’m sorry. Just a moment. I need to get my bearings.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“I’m usually not this flustered. Ugh, damn it. I know who you are. Marie Garcia. Yes. Almost no one here doesn’t know you. At least the security team is well-acquainted with you. But you’re here, the security system is down, and judging by the state of the other rooms, it doesn’t look like you came here to conquer the base.”
Marie observed the control room staff as he quickly regained his composure. Indeed, the SCP Foundation had exceptional personnel even beyond Class D.
“Is the guy sprawled out here John Doe, that son of a b-tch?”
It seemed like the staff’s temperament came with the territory, but he got the answer right. Marie nodded, and the staff member abruptly stood up and kicked John Doe’s corpse.
“F-cking b-stard!”
Marie was startled by the sudden desecration of the corpse, but the staff had his reasons.
“If I screw up my performance review because I couldn’t protect one base properly! If my rank drops!”
The staff member’s ID badge showed a rank of C. Indeed, if he dropped any further, he could end up as a test subject, so it made sense they’d be agitated.
Ring.
At that moment, the phone rang.
Marie noticed the green telephone that had appeared next to her and recognized it as the future phone. The agitated staff stopped their actions and stared blankly, perhaps mesmerized. Marie, while stroking the plush doll, made a request.
“Would you mind destroying that for me?”
Crack.
The future phone vanished, leaving only fragments behind. With one anomalous object perfectly neutralized, Marie embraced the fluffy cotton doll. It wasn’t the best time to reflect with a headless corpse nearby.
“Ah.”
It was peaceful.
Marie was deeply satisfied with the return to normalcy.
* * *
The John Doe incident was quickly resolved. Although one base was lost, in a way, only one base was destroyed, so it could be considered a relatively good outcome compared to initial concerns.
<On behalf of the Foundation, thank you.>
“You don’t look well.”
<The nightmare was dreadful.>
Brooks Harner, the person in charge of the response, swept his face with a weary expression. Although no one had died except John Doe, there were numerous victims suffering from insomnia, nervous breakdowns, and delirium caused by the nightmare. Consequently, the number of people cursing John Doe continued to rise steadily.
<Is Marie okay?>
“Yes.”
<I salute your mental fortitude…>
“Haha.”
In a voice strained with fatigue, Brooks Harner meticulously briefed Marie on the aftermath. Marie listened intently to the update regarding the nightmare’s master, Mary Hunt.
<She doesn’t remember anything. The examination results were consistent with the truth, so judgment, monitoring, and protective measures were put in place.>
