SCP-1428 – "Cortexichildren"
Chapter 4: SCP-1375
Disclaimers: During the writing process, all of the SCP number selections I have used were / are vacant. I don't intend to publish this on the wiki, so if the series number is now taken… oh well. This is mainly a crossover fic, not a SCP event log that will go on the site.
Forever reminder that I do not own anything. Fringe belongs to J.J. & co. & each SCP belongs to their respective individual author. & the SCP universe belongs to that collective on that site. I do not own anything. I am a fan.
Forever reminder of how I handle alt!characters: Over There: Bob. Over Somewhere Else: Bob.
Author's Notes: I hope you're ready to really go on the SCP journey. We're gunna get to the good stuff. More science & more research I'm going to have to do, unfortunately, but THE GOOD STUFF. I was able to crank out the previous 3 chapters relatively easy. But now I'll have to really quintuple check to stay in character.
Lol why couldn't I have just made a flashback fic with Nick & Olivia? Why did I have to be so ambitious? Lolgod.
Item #: SCP-1375
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1375 is to be contained i meter room and must be sedated at all times. While in its containment cell, security guards must administer Class B sedatives every hour. Failure to apply these procedures will bear unknown consequences at this time. Food and water must be provided three times a day. Direct and sustained contact with SCP-1375 is prohibited unless for research purposes authorized by at least 5 members of O5 Command.
Transportation Procedures: While SCP-1375 is being transported from its cell to a research facility, the highest sedatives must be used at all times. Upon entering SCP-1375's cell, Class A sedatives must be administered immediately and must continue to be administered until SCP-1375 is docile and cooperative enough to move without incident. Those transporting and those having any other form of contact with the SCP must have Class A sedatives on them at all times. Once SCP-1375 has been successfully transferred to a secure research room, sedatives given to SCP-1375 will be lowered to Class C or D, depending on the manor of such research. Once questioning and research have finished, repeat transportation procedures.
Description: SCP-1375 is a Caucasian male of average height with blond hair and blue eyes. It is believed SCP-1375 is a reverse-empath, with the capability of transferring its emotions to those around it. SCP-1375 is emotionally unstable and highly suicidal. It is also prone to self-hatred and self-harm. The transferring of these emotions commonly results in the deaths of those around it. The range of these abilities and whether only negative emotions transfer to human hosts is unknown.
Upon containment, SCP-1375 was spotted with SCP-1357. The manor of this relationship is unknown. Because of the circumstances surrounding their discovery, SCP-1357 may have the ability to control SCP-1375.
Note: Not much is known about SCP-1375 at present time, which makes this SCP highly dangerous.
Basically we have no idea what we're doing, people. Look sharp and stay sharp. Of course all these files are subject to change, too, once we get more information. When in doubt, sedate. Don't try to be a hero. – Dr. ████
"Olive? Olive?!"
No this wasn't right. Everything was just a sea of moving black, orange, and white blurs – not Olivia. Everything was panic and despair, not Olivia.
"Where's Olive? Tell me where she is!" Nick became more and more distressed, continuing to cry out to her – to demand for her. "Tell me where Olive is!"
But all of this aggression and disruption worked against Nick. And soon he found himself right back in the daze he had so desperately tried to claw out of.
The daze didn't just keep him docile; it kept him… positive, for once. His thoughts, instead of racing to how the two of them had been kidnapped, separated, and imprisoned for some unknown reason, traveled to glass half full thoughts. He was moving now. They were walking him somewhere – he didn't know where – but at least he was out of his cell. At least they had stopped using restraints on him. At least he was still alive.
But the daze wasn't strong enough to contain the darker Nick, the deeper Nick. He was subdued, but not stifled. 'Look around, Nick. You have to get out of here. You'll break if they keep you locked in here. You're too weak to stay here. You need to get out.'
But looking around proved useless. Nick wanted to see distinct images, but all he saw were more blurs and blobs. Sometimes the blobs were a bit more in focus, but his vision was futile; he could not trust it.
'That's not good enough, Nick. You want to know where they're keeping Olive, right? Where do they have her? Where do they have you? Get ANSWERS, Nick.'
But Nick was too deep in the daze and too submerged in fear to do much of anything. This was unlike any facility he had ever been in. He was guessing military, since he was being kept in such secrecy and in such security. He could hear the loud thumping of boots along with the shuffling of firearms. There were larger black blobs, he guessed guards, behind him, in front of him, beside him, and farther away in the distance. The place was crawling with them.
But who were these people? If they were soldiers working for Jones, they needed to let him speak. They had the wrong people. He needed to tell them that they were all on the same side – that they were all recruits and that they could be trusted, even Olivia. Nick would vouch for her. Nick would turn her. Nick would keep her safe.
But in the chance that these people weren't working for Jones – and perhaps these were the very people Jones was training him to kill – then they were in the wrong place entirely. And he needed to make an escape as fast as possible. With Olivia. But even with just the two of them, they were highly outmatched. Nick had no doubt in Olivia's abilities, even when she doubted herself, but they had no idea what weapons this facility possessed and how many soldiers were stationed here. And were there other Cortexiphan children, just like them, working for this facility? What was happening?
The daze was lifting. He felt himself return to his body.
"Where's Olive? Tell me where she is-"
Injections. More of the daze. More of the walking. More of the unknown.
Nick was in another painfully bright and painfully sanitary room. Everything was white to a sinister degree. It was unnatural, abnormal to be so white.
Nick looked down and saw three letters and four numbers across his chest. Nick looked up and saw four cameras at every corner of the room. Nick looked at the table and saw the letters S-C-P and a logo he had never seen before glaring right at him.
He was completely certain that this was not a Jones-run facility. Utterly and entirely certain.
The doors opened in front of him. Three people walked in and sat in the three empty chairs in front of him. They were holding three clipboards and each had three pens in their coat pockets.
Nick couldn't make out the faces of the doctors. Everything was still too foggy, too indistinct. If only Olive were here. She would've been able to see when he could not – to do anything that he could not.
"Where's Olive?" he repeated.
"I believe he's referring to SCP-1357," said one of the doctors. The voice was light, soft, almost friendly. "What a strange name."
"I NEED to know where Olive is." The fear in Nick started to swell in him again. "I need to know that she's alright. Please just let me see her. Or bring her to me. I'm begging you-"
"Bring in the Class B Sedatives," the doctor in the middle demanded. "I do not want another event on our hands."
"I believe its abilities are starting to take effect, sir," the doctor at the end added. Nick couldn't define the doctor's gender by their voice, but the voice's blob did seem smaller than the other two. "I feel anxious and I feel a desire to escape. And I desperately need to find whoever this 'Olive' is."
"Administer the sedatives, please. This session is not to test SCP-1375's abilities, but to find out more about its origins – how it came to be. Although please note the severity of these feelings and your proximity to the SCP, Doctor. We shall use that as a yardstick for the time being."
"I can't be more than two feet away from the subject, right, sir?"
"You honestly can't estimate the space on your own? I'm beginning to doubt your credentials for this."
'What a smug piece of shit,' the darkness swore. 'Prick me all you want, you aren't getting an ounce of information out of me.'
"My name… is Nick." It was hard to speak. The room was racing around him. And Nick felt as if the connection between his mind and his body had been severed. He couldn't control his limbs. He couldn't feel his limbs.
"Fine… Nick." It was the softer-voiced doctor. He was hesitant to call Nick by his name. "Tell us a bit about yourself."
"I refuse to say anything else."
"Perhaps we should try some of our truth serums?" the third doctor suggested.
"No." The commanding voice in the middle again. "I want to test SCP-1375's cooperation. If desperate measures arise, we will resort to them. I would rather not stress the subject."
Every passing moment with the commanding doctor stirred the darker Nick's flames – his hatred. 'As soon as I find a way out of this mess, he's the first one who's going to die. His brains will be on the floor. His screams will fill these empty hallways. They'll all run in fear of me. And they'll let us all go. I will relish the day when I can see his blood dripping out of him, painting all this white shit a delicious red. It's only a matter of time.'
"But perhaps we should gratify it – just this once?" the ambiguous doctor asked, timidly. "Perhaps allowing it to see SCP-1357 will open it up to questioning?"
"We also don't know if it's a ploy to find out more about its surroundings," the middle doctor mused.
"But I do agree – it may help ease the questioning process." The figure appeared to stand, or at least Nick assumed so, since the blob right in front of him appeared spontaneously larger. "You will be permitted to see SCP-1357's camera feed, but nothing else. You will not be permitted to go into its cell, nor will you be permitted to communicate with it. Do you understand?"
'That's not good enough. How will you know that it's her?' The voice decided to play devil's advocate. 'And I'd like to see Olivia, too. At least SHE'S not a complete failure.'
'If it's her, I'll know. I'm confident.'
'Are you? You're shaking. You're scared. You have no idea what you're doing. You're weak. You're not a soldier – you're a coward.'
'Shut up. I thought you were helping me. Earlier you were helping me, why not now?'
'I just want to get out of here. And your safety directly impacts me. That's all. It's not some goodness of my heart bullshit. I just want to get back to Jones – back to where I can be stronger and of use. Wallowing away in here having to watch you tremble and cower is making me sick. It's Jacksonville all over again, having to see you so frightened. It's disgusting.'
"Fine," Nick agreed. Luckily the doctors hadn't noticed any change in Nick's demeanor, despite Nick's ongoing internal battle. "But I want to hear her speak. I need to know that she's alright."
"I'm sure that can be arranged. Fetch me the feed."
Olivia was lying on the bed the unknown agency had provided for her. She was calm, thanks to the sedatives. The first few times they had injected her, she put up quite a struggle – but that warranted much more sedation. Olivia soon learned to fake a catatonic state. The guards and the men in orange jumpsuits were quick to give her smaller doses and less frequent ones. It used to be every hour on the hour, but now the spaces were much farther in between. These new doses kept Olivia quite conscious and if the time came, she would be able to fight back with 70% of her strength.
However Olivia had no idea what time it was. The hourly doses had at least given her a sense of time – a sense of how long she was being held at present. But now, she had no such measuring system. And she still didn't know where she was, or where they were keeping Nick.
Her vision had cleared, but even that had proved useless. The guards that came in wore tinted helmets, making them indistinguishable and uniform. The orange-suited individuals were skittish to approach her, as if they were also being kept against their will. Unlike the familiar guards that dealt with her, Olivia never saw the same orange-suited person twice. And they all had been male. And they all had been terrified to get too close to her; they feared lingering near her for too long. As soon as they had administered the sedative, they sprinted hurriedly out. Some had even tripped over their feet, stumbling in pure terror from some woman just lying on a white bed. What had they been told? What hadn't they been told?
But it was strange. There were edible meals provided for her. Drinkable water provided for her. The living conditions were not lush, but they were certainly better than the cell the Other Side had held her in. That cell had been in pure solitude, devoid of any light or sustenance. But in some ways that cell was better than the cell that held her now. Because she KNEW why the Other Side was holding her there. She was an unknown invader to them who queerly resembled one of their agents. She was a threat to them that needed to be dealt with. She was a mystery that needed to be solved. There was an agenda and a purpose for her – an agenda and purpose Olivia soon figured out.
But she had no such insight here. And there was no Walternate figure in sight; no Walternate figure to stare at her menacingly, sans any compassion, while she pounded on the door and begged to be set free. Even the Other Side had showed her a human face – a human cause – as to why she was there. But here… everything was out of sight, unknown.
The cameras monitoring her every move made her both uneasy and also… secure. Uneasy because being watched was a practice that tortured her. Constant surveillance. Constant awareness. No privacy. She felt violated. She felt like a little girl again; she felt completely out of control, completely vulnerable to unseen predators forever with the upper hand. She was open to abuse, to the unknown grotesque possibilities that only Dr. Walter Bishop could theorize in his darker state. Olivia sought to regain control – which meant being free of what felt like a scientific prison.
But the constant surveillance let her know that she did, in fact, have a warden; there was, in fact, a purpose for her containment. There was someone – or some group of people – watching her from the feeds those cameras provided. She was not alone. She could have answers. She would have answers. She would make them talk. She would make them regret ever taking her against her will.
Creaking noises. It sounded like… focusing? Olivia turned her chin up to the nearest camera – the one perched right above her bed. It was focusing on her.
Olivia's eyes narrowed, "Who are you? Why am I here? Where is this? I want answers. I want to know where Nick is and I want to go back to where I belong."
Nothing.
Olivia scowled, "I think you're worried about the wrong person. You're fixating on Nick when you should be fixating on me."
Nick smiled – that was Olive for you. So strong. So unwaveringly strong, even when captured.
"What did she mean by 'you're worried about the wrong person?'" the softer-voiced doctor asked.
"Olive was always the strongest out of us."
"The two of you?" he pressed further.
"All of us." Nick swallowed. He was probably giving more information than he should.
'You pathetic idiot. The more you give them, they more they'll expect. They'll torture it out of you. They'll try to torture it out of Olivia, but she'd never tell; she'll never waver. But they'll torture you and you'll spill everything. You're an open book for them – a government's dream. You'll ruin everything. You'll kill us all.' The darker voice continued to berate Nick. 'What happened to refusing to say anything? What happened to that strength? It left. Just like everything does. You're alone in this little cell. No one's coming to rescue you. Olive's locked up and I doubt she'll want to help you when you rat her out.'
'I'm not going to say anything else. I promise.'
'You always break your promises so don't give me that. Give me death. Give me the deaths of those doctors in front of you. I want to see their blood on the walls.'
"Stop it. Don't make me hurt them." The words slipped from Nick's mind to his mouth.
"What was that?" the smallest doctor questioned.
'But they're holding you captive. Don't you want to get out? Kill them. Break out of this place. Take it all by force.'
"No. I won't do it. I won't kill them."
"Doctor, what is he saying?"
The commanding doctor seized control, "Get the Class A sedatives immediately. Get the restraints. Get the guards ready."
'Maybe Olivia will actually like you if you actually grow a pair. She'll never like you because you're so weak. She's had to carry your dead weight ever since she was a child. She wants someone she can depend on – someone just as strong as she is.'
"I won't do it and you can't make me." Tears formed in Nick's eyes. "Killing those people is what got me here in the first place."
'No. They all died because you got depressed. Because someone – everyone – is happier than you.'
Nick clenched his teeth. The darkness was right. And he felt the dark Nick return to the surface, bubbling over and clouding any judgment he had left. Strength and feeling returned to his limbs. And a darker gleam returned to his blue eyes.
"Get in here now, guards!" The commanding doctor shrieked. He took out a syringe from his coat pocket and stood up to oppose Nick. "Or perhaps I'll have to do this myself."
"No. I doubt that." Nick grinned when his influence on the doctor became apparent. The outstretched arm that had been set on jabbing Nick was dangerously close to the doctor's own jugular. "I'm tired of hearing you talk. I'm tired of watching your filth exist."
"No. Stop." The third doctor looked up at him in pure terror, although too paralyzed to move. "You don't need to do this. I'm begging you. I don't want you to keep killing people. You don't know anything about these doctors. They might be able to help. They might be able to help me."
"You're a disgusting pest that needs to be dealt with," the darker Nick hissed, addressing the weaker Nick – addressing the third doctor. "Let me do what I was born to do. I don't want you getting in the way any longer. I will get us out of the mess you got us into. Iwill be worthy enough for-"
But Nick was tackled from behind. And he felt another syringe slither into the base of his neck. And even more in his arms.
'When did those doors get there?' thoughts raced to 'What's going to happen to me now?' thoughts which raced to darker Nick's disapproving 'Even when I take control you manage to ruin everything' echoes in Nick's mind.
"We need a much more secure room," the commanding doctor panted, still visibly shaken from the incident. "We will keep it sedated. And we'll use those serums. I don't want that thing to do this again."
Olivia's heart began to race. Something was wrong with Nick. Something was desperately wrong. She bolted up in bed, upright, sweating.
'They're taking him somewhere.' If she closed her eyes she could make out the shuffling of feet and the blurs of the guards.
They were taking him to a much larger room. Full of cabinets of vials and a table of syringes. They were strapping him down to a metal hospital bed. Nick was too sedated to even scream, but his fear was working its way through Olivia.
"Please. Don't do it. Please don't do anything to him," she whimpered. She knew that feeling. The feeling of helplessness before being operated on against your will. "Don't do anything to him." Painful flashbacks of her time on the Other Side with marks drawn all over her face and body, waiting for her skull to be cut into, flooded through her. No. She could not handle seeing another event like that again, directly or indirectly. Especially indirectly. She would NOT casually observe Nick being cut into; she would NOT leave him to the mercy of these people.
A long syringe was filled with a funny orange liquid. Then the syringe entered Nick's left arm.
"In five minutes you can get whatever you want out of him," the injector announced.
No. No this was not happening.
Olivia got out of bed only to meet white walls and white lights. And a white door.
"If he doesn't cooperate, I have this, sir." It looked like a machine used to administer electric shocks.
Olivia was hyperventilating – Nick was hyperventilating.
"Let him go," Olivia screamed, pounding against the door. "Let him go, damnit! Take me. Question me. Leave Nick out of this. Don't do this to him!"
But the guards came in and only administered sedatives. The screams subsided and were controlled, but the fear was not. Nick was in danger. Nick was in danger and everything was going black.
Nick faced the same commanding doctor, although the features of this doctor were distorting in front of him. Actually everything looked more like a Van Gogh painting than an interrogation room. What exactly had they given him?
"You're going to answer a series of questions as best you can. When we have enough information, we will let you go."
"To see Olive?" Even in this drugged state, Nick clung to Olivia. Especially in this drugged state, strapped down and defenseless, he needed her. If they promised him Olivia, he would tell them anything they needed to know. Anything. He just needed her. His voice was shaking now, but he could force himself to be stronger for her.
"Perhaps. Your cooperation will determine that." The doctor looked down at the clipboard, "What are you?"
"I'm like you, but…"
"But?" The doctor leaned in closer.
"I'm special. We're all special."
"We? Again with the we? Who are you referring to?"
"The rest of the children. There's more of us out there. I remember around sixteen of us, but I remember Olive the most."
"Tell us more about 'Olive.'"
"She's always been the strongest out of us. She was paired with me for the experiments."
"Experiments?" The doctor looked back at a variety of doctors seated behind him. Nick couldn't make any of them out at the moment. And beyond the doctor blobs he only saw swirls of colors. "What kind of experiments?"
"Children are our greatest resources – especially in times of war. We were prepared. We were given abilities to help us fight."
"Who prepared you and what exactly did they do?"
"We were given Cortexiphan. It opens up all the possibilities of the mind – that's what Dr. Bell told us. It allows us to do things normal people can't." Nick wanted to stop talking, but he just couldn't. The words continued to flow out of him. It was endless.
"Full name, please."
"Dr. William Bell. And Dr. Walter Bishop."
A deafening voice filled the room, "That's impossible. It is lying. Dr. Walter Bishop conducted no such research."
Nick shook his head. "They did. In Jacksonville, Florida. It was an old military base. They gave it to us, tested its effects, and recorded everything. But eventually it was all shut down. And we all went our separate ways. Olivia and I only recently found each other again."
"Lies. There were no such operations in Jacksonville. Are you certain the correct dosage was given, Dr. Hendricks?"
"Yes, sir. The proper dosage was administered."
"Fine. Proceed with the questioning, but I am skeptical as to the verity of SCP-1375's statements."
Dr. Hendricks' commanding and controlling demeanor seemed to have diminished after the arrival of the booming voice. He swallowed, mouth twitching, "Tell us more, Nick."
"The Cortexiphan works differently in all of us. I became a reverse-empath. Some can start fires. Some can bend metal. Some can do much more."
"And what about SCP-13 – I mean, Olive. You keep repeating how she is the strongest. What makes her so strong?"
"Olive always passed the tests they gave us. Each one. Dr. Bishop said that she was destined to do great things. And he believed that she would be able to save our universe."
"That shall be all. Bring in SCP-1357 for questioning. I believe 'Olive' will be a lot more cooperative than SCP-1375. Keep SCP-1375 heavily sedated. Return it to its containment cell."
"Sir we just received word that SCP-1357 was causing disturbances in its cell. It seemed to know that SCP-1375 was being questioned. Before the guards took action, it begged for everything to stop. To take 'her' instead. To leave 'him' out of it." A younger doctor with scruffy hair and thick glasses looked up to the speaker, "What does this mean, sir?"
"It means SCP-1357 better give us answers. But this 'pairing' SCP-1375 spoke of could be true. The two of them could have a bond between them. That would explain the behavior SCP-1357 was exhibiting before their discovery event. The more I think about it, the more I need to hear from SCP-1357."
"But does that mean everything else SCP-1375 was true?"
"I am uncertain. But I have many reliable sources dealing with Dr. Walter Bishop and I guarantee that he did not conduct such research. I am unfamiliar with this William Bell."
"SCP-1357 can be transported safely, but it will be some time before the heavier sedatives wear off."
"We will wait, Dr. Kwon."
Item #: SCP-1375
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1375 is to be contained i meter room and must be sedated at all times. While in its containment cell, security guards must administer Class B sedatives every hour. Failure to apply these procedures will leave those in direct contact with SCP-1375 in danger of being controlled. Food and water must be provided three times a day. Direct and sustained contact with SCP-1375 is prohibited unless for research purposes authorized by at least 5 members of O5 Command.
Transportation Procedures: While SCP-1375 is being transported from its cell to a research facility, the highest sedatives must be used at all times. Upon entering SCP-1375's cell, Class A sedatives must be administered immediately and must continue to be administered until SCP-1375 is docile and cooperative enough to move without incident. Those transporting and those having any other form of contact with the SCP must have Class A sedatives on them at all times. Once SCP-1375 has been successfully transferred to a secure research room, sedatives given to SCP-1375 will be lowered to Class C or D, depending on the manor of such research. Once questioning and research have finished, repeat transportation procedures.
Description: SCP-1375 is a Caucasian male of average height with blond hair and blue eyes. It is believed SCP-1375 is a reverse-empath, with the capability of transferring its emotions to those around it. SCP-1375 is emotionally unstable and highly suicidal. It is also prone to self-hatred and self-harm. The transferring of these emotions commonly results in the deaths of those around it. The range of these abilities and whether only negative emotions transfer to human hosts is unknown.
According to SCP-1375, the cause of its abilities is a substance named Cortexiphan. Its chemical make-up, way of administration, and amount needed to trigger such abilities are unknown. According to SCP-1375, SCP-1357, who was seen with the subject before its containment, also has Cortexiphan in its system. According to SCP-1375, the two SCPs were paired together in childhood during the Cortexiphan experiments, forming a bond between them. The strength and specifics of this bond are unknown. Whether SCP-1357 truly has the ability to control SCP-1375 is also unknown.
Note-01: Not much is known about SCP-1375 at present time, which makes this SCP highly dangerous.
Basically we have no idea what we're doing, people. Look sharp and stay sharp. Of course all these files are subject to change, too, once we get more information. When in doubt, sedate. Don't try to be a hero. – Dr. ████
[[THE INFORMATION BELOW IS FOR PERSONNEL WITH LEVEL 4 CLEARANCE AND ABOVE ONLY]]
Note-02: According to SCP-1375, there are more children who have been given Cortexiphan. The Foundation requires additional information before further containment procedures are needed.
Further research is essential before we can proceed. I have never heard of Cortexiphan nor the Doctors [DATA REDACTED] involved in such research. Answers from SCP-1357 are vital before we take any course of action. – O5-2
