NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: When Delusion Breaks
The blast door shut, and I was bathed in calmness, the very opposite of the chaos on the other side of the door. I didn't move from my spot. How could I, now that I saw what's become of SCP-343?
I scratched the sides of my neck to calm down. I began thinking of what to do next before I heard footsteps behind me.
Reactively without thinking it through, I turned to face the source, finding it to belong to a heavily tanned man of seemingly Arabic descent. He was a cyborg. Black of hair, blue of eyes, metal of arms, legs, and shoulders from what I can see in my current kneeling position. There's also a strange symbol I've never seen before on his forehead.
Based on the man's face he looked to be in his early 30s.
"Greetings. Don't you find it cold to stay on the metal floor like that?"
"Who are you?"
The man gestured to himself, "The Foundation calls me SCP-073. Refer to me as Cain."
Cain… Cain… The first murderer. The one who reflects damage back at the attacker, the one who kills all life by his sheer presence, the one who the Foundation used as a backup for information.
Cain. SCP-073, the brother of SCP-076, Able.
"Where… are we?"
Cain gave me a hand, "If we are to talk I prefer you standing up instead of kneeling on the cold floor."
His tone was kinda mechanical. Almost robot-like.
I took his offered hand. Cain helped me up without any issues. Standing up, I saw how Cain was taller than me by a few inches.
"To answer your question, we are in the only place in this facility safe from my brother's encroachment."
"Your brother?" I asked, wondering who Cain was talking to before my mind fixated on SCP-343.
"Yes. My brother. My dear brother. The firstborn of our father." Cain then stared up at the ceiling, his eyes far away as he reminisced about things long ago, "He was always the kindest between the three of us."
What…?
Before I could ask any more questions, I felt a sudden change in reality. The corridor around me changed. Everything changed. Where before there were metal walls, floors, and ceilings with neon lights, all were replaced by carpet floors, white drywalls, and a ceiling dotted with low-hanging lights and rough popcorn ceiling. I even spot potted fern plants down the hall, alongside cubicles where workers tap away on computers where sunlight filters into the room and shines up them.
It was as though I was suddenly transported into an office building.
"What just happened?" I asked as I suddenly looked around me with furrowed brows.
"That's because of SCP-1915. He calls himself Jason."
I faced Cain, and I gained a look of befuddlement.
When did Cain suddenly start wearing a three-piece suit? Before, the man wore rags for clothing but now those rags have been replaced by a nice, deep-blue three-piece suit that must've cost a month's worth of salary for the average worker.
Seeing my confused look, Cain elaborated, "I am immune to attacks. Changing clothing into this formal wear does not constitute an 'attack'."
So SCP-1915 caused all this?
I tried to search my mind for mentions of SCP-1915 and came up empty. I wasn't the type to really go deep into the SCPverse as some people did, I mainly just consumed SCP articles instead of tales like so many recommended that I do.
"So what's Jason's deal then? I know he's a reality warper given how our surroundings changed."
"His deal—" A new voice interjected, "—Is that of the Absence. The Void."
There, leaning on the wall behind me, was SCP-239. My eyes stared at the girl. Her surrounding was completely different from the rest of this overlaid office space. It was like someone shining a flashlight onto a wall at night, revealing it for what it was.
SCP-239's surroundings reverted back to what it once was, those metal walls, floors, ceilings, and neon lights.
"The Absence?"
I asked hesitantly. A bit ominous with that name.
Instead of responding, SCP-239 approached me. As she does, I notice how Cain's suit reverted back to the rags he wore before after he entered into SCP-239's influence.
The flashlight was moving, and it was shining upon the truth.
"You are a strange one, Miss Kukulkan. You are the most powerful reality sink I've ever encountered. Even more resistant than that one man who put me under and tried to kill me in my sleep." Then, SCP-239 placed a hand over her left eye and started acting very dramatically, "You're perfect. Join me!"
What?
Her movements were long and drawn out, like an actor in a play.
SCP-239 extended a hand toward me. Only now did I see her possessing an eye patch over her left eye.
"After waking up from my slumber, I've come to the realization that the world is in need of the Zvezdnyy Rebenok's army."
The lights all around me started to dim. Wisps of smoke gathered around SCP-239.
"In order to defeat the sun, I would need to raise an army the likes of which the world has never seen. But simultaneously, I can't gather an army since I would need more training with my powers. You—"
SCP-239 pointed at me. A studio strobe light descended upon me from somewhere above.
What the hell is happening?
"—You are a reality sink unlike any other. You are entirely resistant to my uncle's powers—"
"I'm not though." I interrupted with a hint of bitterness in my mouth, "I was played for a fool before you helped me."
SCP-239 then placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw how SCP-239 was looking down at me with a reassuring expression.
When the hell was she taller than me?
"My uncle's specialty is to warp reality and change it however he likes as an artist would with paintings. After being infected by a direct attack from the sun, he became twisted and evolved into my Arka Nemezida— my arch nemesis. He infected everyone who accepted him and amalgamated into himself. He was no longer my Nastavnik… nor was he my uncle."
SCP-239 was extra melancholic as she said that. However, did she really have to animate the whole thing on the wall? More importantly, did she really have to add Russian to her words?
I turned to Cain who looked tired. It was the same tiredness that a parent might have after dealing with an overly energetic child and tiring them out with a day of play.
"However, you are like a hole burned into the canvas: unchangeable. So my Arka Nemezida turned to warping the reality around you by overlaying everything with a false layer of matter. Then, he turned to using the distasteful mental magic to try and bend you to his will. The fact that you're still of sound mind proves how powerful you are, my Polkovodets!"
SCP-239 was right in my face, so close that I could see how only her pupils had that grey-green shimmer.
"Sigurros—" Cain tried to speak.
"I am no longer Sigurros Stefansdottir! I am the Zvezdnyy Rebenok! The Witch who will defend all of Humanity!"
SCP-239 turned her body a bit to the side as she covered one of her eyes, By dipping her chin and leaning forward a bit, only her jaw wasn't blocked by the rim of the witch hat on her head.
"Ha."
I let out a chuckle. "Hahaha!" I suddenly had an irresistible urge to mess with SCP-239.
Before SCP-239 could shift to a new pose, "Hey!" I plucked her witch hat right off her head and started rubbing her head as though she was a dog.
"Give it back!" SCP-239 tried to jump and get it but I was fully capable of stopping her right in her tracks with a single hand.
Our surroundings shifted once more, but I remained unchanged. I was completely immune to any direct application of SCP-239 and SCP-343's reality-bending powers because of the two levels in Wyldscape Defense.
That was why I forgo a lot of defenses in other areas. Reality Warpers— Type-Greens— these are the main dangers of the SCPverse compared to stuff like memetics.
Realizing she couldn't use her powers to get her hat back, SCP-239 stomped her feet and pouted.
Oh my goodness, that's adorable. My heart melted. My soft eyes then steadily moved on from that pout and saw her hair.
That blonde hair… so tiny in physical body size… she looks so similar to that first girl I saved and failed…
I failed her…
I felt a gap in my Stress Defense.
I collapsed to my knees and enveloped SCP-239 in a hug.
Oh god… forgive me… please forgive me… I failed you. I failed you so badly that I didn't even know your name before you were turned just like your parents…
"Oww… Miss Kukulkan, I know I, the Zvezdnyy Rebenok, am amazing and people will want to hug me and all, but your hug is starting to hurt…"
Slowly, I let go of SCP-239. That one level of Stress Defense ensured I could at least somewhat control my vortex of emotions in the midst of seeing someone who looked so similar to the first person I've ever saved.
"I'm… sorry. I didn't know what came over me."
I did know. But I can't just tell my troubles to strangers, can I?
SCP-239 gave me a suspicious eye as if she didn't believe me. A second later, she moved on, "Anyway, what say you, Miss Kukulkan? Will you become my Polkovodets?"
"By Polkovodets she means you'll become her second-in-command." Cain tried to translate what she meant.
SCP-239 turned to face Cain with a look of betrayal.
"Caaaaaaain!" The girl whined, "Don't translate that! You'll destroy any mystery I could generate! I wanted Kukulkan to accept my proposal not knowing whether she damned herself or not, only to later discover that everything was for her own good! The sheer gratitude she must have when she realized what I've done meant she'll serve me for the rest of eternity!"
Cain opened his mouth to reply— "Shhh!"
A caucasian man in his 30s peered into the hallway we were in and shushed SCP-239 quietly, "Why does Claire have her child here? And you two," The man pointed at me and Cain specifically, "Why are you two dressed like that? I wasn't told there's going to be a Halloween party today."
Cain blinked a few times before immediately stepping away from the reality influenced by SCP-239 and into the reality belonging to who must be SCP-1915. The suit replaced his ragged clothing, yet I noticed how the metal arms and… spine were still visible as they peeked out of the suit he was wearing.
"Yes, sorry," Cain then leaned forward and whispered something into the ears of SCP-1915 that caused the man to look shocked.
"Oh, I see." The man then smiled, even through the dead tired eyes, I saw how the man tried to be as welcoming as he could, "Well, I hope to see you in the future, young girl."
There, he left quickly, almost running away.
"What did you tell our fortress, my Pomoshchnik?"
Fortress?
"In SCP-1915's reality, Claire is the boss' daughter. I've told him how Claire was grooming you to take over an important executive position."
SCP-239 raised her chin up high as she crossed her arms, looking mighty proud of herself.
"Hmph! I would've preferred the boss of the whole place but I guess the Zvezdnyy Rebenok shouldn't be babied and be given room to grow."
There, I cut in before SCP-239 could go on another of her delusional tangents.
"Okay okay," My left hand which was free of a witch hat started waving about, "What did you mean when you called SCP-1915 a 'fortress'?"
"Do you not know, my Polkovodets? The place where we are standing is the entrance to SCP-1915's containment cell. Its origin is that of the Void, should it ever become aware of this it will end the world as surely as the sun rises in the east. The Void is all-consuming and unrelenting."
SCP-239 then yanked the witch hat from my loose hands and placed it back onto her head.
A satisfied look was on SCP-239's face.
"Now come, Kukulkan, as my Polkovodets, you will need to meet the rest of my army that's untouched by my Arka Nemezida."
SCP-239 began walking down the hallway away from where I entered. I gave a sideways glance at Cain, "What happened to SCP-343?"
How did God get turned underneath the sea? That's what I wanted to know.
"It was a targeted attack. Between the three of us, my eldest brother always loved humanity the most. He became distraught at what was happening as he traveled the world, all that suffering… After dying once and coming back, he saw something that finally pushed him to fix it. He learned magic, he learned to shape the physical universe as a sculptor might shape a statue. He became a Magic God— a human who became a God through magic. There, right before he left he told me he would travel to the future, right before humanity needed him the most. Whoever corrupted the sun, knew about this, and they specifically targeted my brother."
There was a bit of anger inside Cain's voice by the end. Whether that's anger at the despicable act or anger at how far his brother has fallen I do not know. It's a coin flip.
Cain gripped and used his left hand to grip his right arm. The metal groaned with the amount of force exerted on it.
"It breaks my heart to know how all he's worked for became wasted. He sacrificed all conceptual records of his existence to fuel a spell powerful enough to send him into the future. No human would ever know what my brother sacrificed. No human would even know who he is. No human would ever know of what he's done. He became… no one. No name. A non-factor. An unknown. And so he became God."
Wow… that's a special level of tragedy.
Already, it takes a special someone to completely willingly give up everything. Their identity, their accomplishment, and their loved ones… all to save humanity.
I found myself sympathizing with SCP-343.
He and I are… not so different surprisingly. There's an almost uncanny resemblance between me and him.
Looking back, I recognize how I had not yet fully given up on my old identity before I signed on with the Company. I still cling to my past. The bouts of homesickness are more than evidence of that.
I guess that's the minute difference between me and SCP-343. The latter fully placed his everything upon the altar of the savior, but I haven't. I've placed most of my things, but not everything.
Should I…? I trailed off, the thought not yet completed.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Cain, Kukulkan, let's go!" SCP-239 yelled in the distance.
Cain began to walk away to follow SP-239, waving his arms, he said, "I have no need of your apologies. You weren't the one who caused this. Though…"
He turned to face me. His eyes depicted a vulnerability I'd never seen before.
"If you could grant my brother one final thing?"
"And that is?"
"Give him peace. Ferry him to his final destination. He has seen too much."
I paused, my eyes drooping to look at the ground as I thought through what Cain was asking me.
"Please, think about it." He appeared more human at that moment than he ever did during my short time knowing him.
Nodding, I stared at Cain's back as he left. Very soon, I was left alone in the middle of this hallway that resembled so much like an office of corporate America. I mean seriously, I can see further down the hallway away from the door I entered from cubicles where workers tap away at their computers.
"Kukulkan! Let's go and see the rest of your army."
"When did I accept to become your second-in-command?"
SCP-239 appeared right in front of me. She was so shocked by my reply that she teleported.
"Eeeeeeh?! You mean you won't accept?" SCP-239 started pacing around me, "No, no no no no, that can't be! I already told people you've accepted, I can't go back empty-handed! I must take you with me…"
I gave her an unimpressed look.
"Look, I am the Zvezdnyy Rebenok, the Witch who will save all of Humanity—"
Didn't she call herself a witch who will defend all of humanity?"
"—and someone who is adored by all." Pure white light descended around SCP-239 as though heaven itself adored her. "You can't just not accept!"
I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. My pragmatic side started working. If I remember correctly, wasn't SCP-239 ranked as a Tier-X on the Waifu Catalog? A whole tier higher than even me. If I have to play this role to gain the aid of a reality-bending Tier-X then so be it.
"Very well… I'll be your Polkovodets."
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AN: So I decided to have a little bit of fun with SCP-239 and give her a lot of unique personality quirks. I was inspired by a combination of Fischl and Furina from Genshin when designing her personality. The Fischl inspiration weighs more heavily than Furina with Cain becoming something of a pseudo-Oz.