SCP-1428 – "Cortexichildren"

Chapter 7: Origin of Insanity


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… meh kewl story, bro. 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: Damn this shit is getting hard to write. Like it was so hard for me to get into the mood of all of this, but then I listened to "The Difference Between Medicine & Poison is the Dose" by Circa Survive & everything just SPLOOOSHed out of my mind. It was crazy. The song screams Nick in general.

Also TWs for self-harm / cutting / bloody type language. It gets pretty graphic here. So if you're easily triggered by that sort of thing… I'm giving you a heads up.

This chapter was originally titled "Bleed Black" but while reviewing this chapter, Markiplier made a vid that featured the phrase "Origin of Insanity" & it made me think of Nick & this is Nick-centric so yeah. He says it's a good name for a band & if you use it you're supposed to give him like a penny for every note you use. So does this mean I have to give him a penny for every word I use? Or every letter?

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING, Samuri7269. It really means a lot to me like honestly thank you so much like omg.


[[ FOR LEVEL 4+ CLEARANCE EYES ONLY ]]

Log 1428-2-01

Dr. J. Kwon:

The current containment procedures for the two SCP-1428 humanoids stresses that we must not separate the two SCPs under most circumstances. SCP-1428-1 needs SCP-1428-2 in close proximity and in open dialogue in order to maintain emotional stability. This is vital to suppress SCP-1428-1's violent outbreaks. And during our latest research session, what could have been a major empathic event was controlled because of SCP-1428-2's presence. SCP-1428-1's fear manifested in Dr. Montgomery. Through her, it expressed terror of the Foundation and it begged for SCP-1428-2 to protect it. The situation could have escalated to the point of [DATA REDACTED].

However this same bond, although it is incredibly vital, discourages proper data collection and thus hinders the process of understanding SCP-1428, SCP-1428-1, and SCP-1428-2. Thus I ordered [and was granted] a separation of the two SCPs.

SCP-1428-2 is especially stubborn – almost painfully so. When SCP-1428-1 appeared willing to disclose information, SCP-1428-2 prevented this. SCP-1428-2 gives SCP-1428-1 strength – the strength to lessen empathic events, but also to lessen cooperation with the Foundation. SCP-1428-1 has not expressed animosity for the Foundation; SCP-1428-2 has. SCP-1428-2 is the most curious, continually questioning why it is here, and the most defiant, continually refusing to cooperate during questioning, of the two. How SCP-1428-2 has such a strong effect on SCP-1428-1 is unknown. Perhaps the two of them can communicate telepathically with each other? Further tests are needed to confirm this.

I theorized that SCP-1428-2 would be more willing to cooperate after their separation. I was wrong. However I still believe that SCP-1428-1 will. In spite of SCP-1428-2's steadfast, stubborn nature, I was still able to gain insight: it is very protective; it cares about human lives; it does not want more people to become like it. It seems, dare I say, very human in its capacity to care and possibly love. SCP-1428-2 is especially protective over SCP-1428-1. And SCP-1428-1 has such a devotion to SCP-1428-2. Perhaps their bond is not only psychic, but physical? Emotional? Could one even label it love?

SCP-1428-2 also has a very high tolerance for pain, but I did not observe anything else. Any ability SCP-1428-2 has mentioned was not present, even under advanced levels of stress. Perhaps it has better control over its abilities than we first suspected, and its estimation was actually an understatement? Or perhaps the SCP overexaggerated its abilities to protect SCP-1428-1? In either case I am left frustrated and with little answers.

I will await Dr. Hendricks' results. Hopefully he has made a break-through. But I'm not holding my breath.


Personal Log of Dr. Wallace Hendricks:

I need to get results here. The O5 are on my ass and Dr. Kwon's existence just… it doesn't help.

I haven't produced vital information to The Foundation in a while. They're doubting my abilities. Hell, even I'm doubting my abilities.

I'm fortunate that this empath doesn't feed off of my emotions. But… at the same time… when it took control of me… I didn't fight it. It was something I've felt like doing for quite some time now.

I don't want to be around this thing. If it were up to me, it would've been destroyed as soon as it came in. But no, Dr. Kwon wants to get promoted by finding out the exact specifics of Cortexiphan. Dr. Kwon wants to be the newest member of the O5 staff. Dr. Kwon wants to be at the forefront of the Overseer class. Dr. Kwon wants nothing short of the entire Foundation.

Fine. If he wants the information that bad, he can have it. I'm done after this. I'm done.


"Dr. Hendricks? Dr. Hendricks, are you sure you're administering the proper voltage-"

"I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING." Dr. Hendricks spun around to face Nick, azure eyes bloodshot and dilated. "Keep. Going. Up."

Nick had stopped feeling pain three cranks of the dial ago. He had also started convulsing three cranks ago. His nose had started bleeding four cranks of the dial ago. Nick had started crying five cranks of the dial ago. Nick had started screaming as soon it all had started.

But now Nick was too weak to even scream. "You – haven't even – asked me – a question," he wheezed at them. He could barely even breathe now. "What do you want?" How many cranks had it been since he could barely breathe?

"Are you ready to cooperate?"

"I've been… ready." Nick's head bobbed up and down. He was going to lose consciousness. His vision had started to go four cranks of the dial ago, but now everything was darkening around him. "Just… ask me… something. Anything." His head was on fire – a sensation that had started six cranks of the dial ago.

"Tell me about the drug trials, Nick."

"Wh-what about them?" The blood kept trickling into his mouth. It made it hard for him to speak. Or it made it harder to speak. It had become hard to speak three cranks of the dial ago. "It lasted… for quite a while."

"What do you remember?"

"Olive. Olive was there." He smiled. He could see her – right in front of him. The little girl he always remembered with the golden hair and the golden smile. "Olive," he repeated, woozily.

"Enough about SCP-1428-2!" Dr. Hendricks' fingers danced dangerously close to the dial, but the threat went unnoticed; Nick couldn't see [again his vision had gone four cranks ago]. "What else do you remember?"

"I remember they made me play dead. They wanted… to test her. I thought… it was just a game. But she really DID think I was dead. She… she got mad." Nick attempted to swallow; he attempted to quell the dried, scorched sensation creeping its way up his throat, but it was in vain. He couldn't even create the tiniest drop of saliva. So he continued. "I remember fire. Screams. I thought I would die for sure…"

"I think it's just rambling on, sir. I think you went too far."

"I did NOT go too far. Dr. Kwon wouldn't have given up. Dr. Kwon pushes the boundaries and no one ever questions his motives." Dr. Hendricks tugged on his white chin hair. "You all WORSHIP the man like a saint."

"But I didn't say anything about Dr. Kwon, sir."

As Dr. Hendricks went on a rant denouncing Dr. Kwon's character, Nick fell into unconsciousness. Into the darkness. Into the realm of him.

It was immediate. "Maybe they should just kill you." His voice echoed in the surrounding nothingness, as Nick plunged even further into black infinity.

"Don't you ever stop?" Nick jerked around, hoping to get a glimpse of this demon – for once. Just this once.

"Don't you ever stop existing?" The voice cackled and spat. "You're so weak. That doctor is one dial away from killing you."

"Shut up." Nick stopped falling through space. He stayed there, suspended, "You fucking shut up. I don't need to listen to you; you're just a voice."

"You don't know where they have her, do you? She's not right next to you. She's somewhere else."

"You're lying. Olive's always right beside me."

"Cut the childish crap. Don't you remember? They took you away from her. By force. She's still there in that room. She's helpless – just like you are every day."

"Stop it."

"If you were any other person, I'd tell you to save her. I'd tell you to save yourself. But you're still a pathetic little boy. She'll never love you – I don't see why you try."

Nick spun around, ready to face the voice head on. "I'll save her. I'll do it."

"Are you sure? Are you done crying and screaming? That's all you've been doing. I'd be surprised if you could actually pull this off."

"I'm not like them. They're normal. I'm special. I'm a soldier. I'm a fighter."

"Fine. Prove to Jones that you're worthy for the cause. Prove to her that you're worthy of her love."

Nick violently wheezed for air, bolting upright against the restraints. The voice had been right – Olivia wasn't there. "Where's Olive?" He still asked them. "Where – is – she?"

Normally when he asked "Where's Olive?" it was a weak whimper or a shrill scream. When he bolted awake every night, it was wailed out, fearful and lonely. When he had asked the guards every day, it was shaking, desperate and weak. But now he was calm, dangerously calm. He sounded like her. He felt like her. He felt control.

But he also felt like the darker Nick, the Nick that dwelled in the black abyss that berated him in his sleep. That was the Nick that thrived from the nightmares; that was the Nick that both protected him and harmed him. That was the Nick that developed after the drug trials – his way of coping through it all. This Nick was strength when he wasn't; this Nick was power when he wasn't. This Nick was Olivia when there was no Olivia. And there hadn't been Olivia for a very long time.

And Nick felt it crawl through him, under his skin and through his blood vessels. This Nick was a disease and soon the control turned into blood lust. The control turned into chaos. The darker Nick wanted to enjoy it; he wanted to see them all pay. And the darker Nick was the one Jones preferred anyway. Jones liked the death he brought. There was a special kind of control you could get from chaos.

Aides and guards surrounded him, attempting to calm him down. But they would only attempt.

One of the female doctors approached him, hoping to secure the restraints he had loosened. "SCP-1428-2 is back in its cell-"

"In a cell? You have Olive in a cell?" He looked at the woman in pure disgust, repulsed by her very existence, "Do you know how lonely and desperate it's like? To be in a cell? To feel like hope has turned its back on you? That everything and everyone has abandoned you? To feel that you're nothing and nothing matters? To feel that you'll never matter and that you've never mattered? To feel that you're as powerful as an ant – even less than an ant? It's inescapable. It's a shadow forever lurking, forever following, but it never comes. You're on the edge, waiting for the plunge, but you never fall. You're suspended. You're trapped. You're caught in a web of nothingness, eating away at you. But you're still trapped, held against your will. They all ignore you. They want you dead. They want to see your worthless body rot."

"SCP-1428-1, you need to calm down-" She touched his hand, but by doing so she had sealed her fate and nearly all of those in the room with her.

"It's enough to make you want to kill yourself," he added, his voice only faint rasps of itself. All Nick had to do was watch. She would do the work for him and so would those guards with those large guns of theirs. They always did the work for him. They always would.

There was a period of silence before the madness would begin. He closed his eyes and breathed in, trying to enjoy it before it all began. 'We're going to get out of here, Olive; I promise. But first…'

It started. It started how it always started – with blood-curling cries and shriveling shrieks and begs for mercy that would not come. And it would end how it always ended – dull thuds and all their lifeless bodies on the floor. And blood. There was always blood. Lots and lots of blood.

The female that had touched his hand lunged at the guards with a blade aimed to kill. But Nick couldn't have her go for the guards; they would've just shot her in the head. There was no fun in that. No blood in that. Nick watched, instead, as the doctor sliced down her wrists. As the blood oozed and bubbled down. As the blood dripped down her wrists, it made him shudder; it made the hair on his neck stand on edge and the flesh of his own wrists start to tingle. And he watched as the other doctors rushed to help her. They were powerless – just like him. They could do nothing. They would do nothing. They would only die.

"Susan! Susan, what are you doing?"

"It's the SCP! Hurry! Sedate it!"

But it was too late for them. "Susan" had gauged out her eyes and was lying limp on the floor. It had been quick – quicker than Nick had expected – but it was quite a sight. After the blade had dug its way into the socket, the eye quite literally popped out. And it rolled around on the floor, bleeding and oozing. And then came the next one. And more screams with that. He'd leave her alive. He'd leave her fumbling on the earth, worthless. He knew the sensation well.

The sickness was spreading now – Nick was spreading now. One of the doctors was strangling himself, pleading with himself to slop, pleading with himself for mercy. Nick could hear bones cracking and the cries start to get weaker and weaker, raspier and raspier, and then finally no more. He fell limp on the ground. He was nothing.

Another one of the doctors was cutting his body open, nice fluid strokes slicing down. His screams fell on deaf ears – for Nick's screams had never been heard. Only by Olive. He wouldn't listen to their screams if no one had listened to his. Especially here. Especially here when they treated him less than a person. They didn't even call him by name. He was SCP-1428-1 to them. He was a disease to them. Well maybe he was a disease. But they of all people had no right to judge him; they of all people had no right to anything at all.

"NO! I CAN'T! I HAVE A FAMILY! PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS! DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS!" Nick didn't care. Fuck this man and his family. Nick didn't have much of a family – not anymore. The only family he had was himself and Olive. The man took the surgeon's knife and sliced his hearts into pieces, blood gushing every which way. His screams finally stopped. Good. Nick especially hated those ones. He hated when they spoke of families, spoke of lovers, spoke of life and love Nick never had – would never have. He loved watching them die the most.

"You monster," one of the guards tried approaching him. But he shot himself right through the mouth. So what if Nick was a monster? What of those guards, terrorizing him and Olive in the night? Taking them to their testing chambers? Prodding them with guns? What of them and their tinted helmets? What of them and their black boots? What of them and the blood that was on THEIR hands?

Another one of the guards was walking dangerously close to the remaining doctors and aides who were huddling in the corner. They were pleading with him, begging him – Nick – to stop. But the guard would shoot without hesitation – Nick would be sure of that.

"No! Stop what you're doing! You're under the SCP's influence! Come to your senses! STO-" Dead.

"YOU CAN'T. YOU HAVE THE WRONG PERSON. SHOOT THE SCP SHOOT IT INSTEA-" Dead.

"I have a family! I have a daughter! I know you, Ted. You won't shoot me. Don't shoot me you can't shoot oh god no!" Dead.

"No please don't kill me please-" Dead. All of them dead. All of them bleeding sacks of flesh on the ground. Despite their pleas, they deserved this fate. They deserved this for hurting Olivia. They deserved this and much worse.

The abnormally white room looked much more realistic, resembling the true ambitions of this SCP Foundation now. Nick quite liked the new paint job. Blood dripping from the walls looked much better than those stupid logos.

Unfortunately Dr. Hendricks had fled the scene when the first kill had transpired. That was alright. He would be dead eventually. And he would suffer the most out of all of them.

Sirens were screaming all around him, pounding into his already pounding skull. He was still in his restraints. He still wasn't free. He needed to get free. Maybe he should've left one of them alive? Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

But now more guards were filing into the room. It was already too late to panic. It was already too late to move. They shot at him with darts. And those darts made him fall right back into the dark.

He had failed. He always failed. He would always fail. Failure.


Nick could hear voices. But where were they coming from? There wasn't anyone in the room – they had made sure of that. But the voices sounded like they were right next to him.

No, they sounded like they were coming from his head. But these weren't the voices he heard in his head. These weren't the self-hating demons he battled with. These sounded like the doctors. The doctors torturing him and Olivia. But where were they? And what exactly were they saying?

"MY FAULT? This is YOUR FAULT!" But they sounded like the demons, forcing the blame on him. What were they? Doctors or demons? His mind was spinning, racing.

"I'm not the one that pushed the SCP to its very limits. You encouraged the empathic event in the first place." But no, these weren't the demons; these were the doctors. That was Dr. Kwon. He was sure of it this time. He was sure.

"I'M NOT THE ONE THAT SEPARATED THE TWO SCPS IN THE FIRST PLACE." And that was that vile Dr. Hendricks. That weak, pathetic, emotional man. The man that reminded Nick too much of himself. And Nick suspected the projection went both ways. Perhaps that was why Hendricks was so horrid to him in the first place? But weren't doctors – especially scientific doctors of such a high standing – supposed to be emotionally removed? The opposite of someone like Nick? Weren't they supposed to be like Dr. Bell and Dr. Bishop? Caring, but only justifiably so? Removed? Hardened? Calloused? Almost godly? Dr. Bell and Dr. Bishop certainly acted like gods back then. But these doctors… they were human. They had emotions. They had relationships. It was something Nick had never seen before.

During the drug trials, everyone had been so polite. But there was a protocol even during playtime. There were the aides, so cordial and sometimes even sweet, but they always maintained distance between the children and themselves. Yes the subjects were children and yes this was a daycare, but this was something more; there was a higher objective and a higher calling. The aides refused to be attached and the aides had to be unattached. Not once did Nick see true emotion from those aides. Not once.

And then there were the overseers, the least attached of all. The Bell and Bishop figures were shrouded in much secrecy; the disembodied voices of this O5 staff resembled Bell and Bishop much more than these doctors conducting their experiments. Nick knew that they had the power because they were in control of everything, especially their emotions. These things bickering in the other room couldn't be doctors, could they? Even the doctors Jones had in his arsenal were so very removed, so very aloof to the human condition and human emotions. What was wrong with these doctors? How come they were so ordinary? None of them so far exuded cold confidence. None of them exuded true control.

And suddenly Nick realized he could beat them. They could beat them. This SCP Foundation was cracked. They were all too human to be so advanced.

Nick heard Dr. Kwon laugh. "I'm not the doctor with a petty grudge, Hendricks."

"A GRUDGE? YOU THINK THIS IS ALL BECAUSE I HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST YOU? HOW PETTY OF YOU, DR. KWON. I thought you were smarter than that."

"And I thought you were more emotionally aware. There's no need to shout at me, Dr. Hendricks."

"NO NEED TO SHOUT?! NO NEED TO-" Suddenly the yelling stopped. Or Nick's awareness of their yelling stopped.

Regardless, Nick wouldn't have been able to continue. An orange-suited man had come in to dose him. The insight was fun while it lasted.

But before Nick went fully under, he wondered how he could use that relationship to his advantage. If only Olive knew. She could work wonders with people, just as she had worked wonders on himself. She would know exactly what to do, exactly how to wrap the two of them around her fingers, playing their animosity against each other. But Olivia wasn't here. And he had no idea whether he would see Olivia ever again. That was a troubling thought.


Log 1428-1-01

Dr. W. Hendricks:

I did not agree with Dr. Kwon's decision to separate the two SCPS, but I obeyed the O5 and initiated questioning of SCP-1428-1 regardless.

Dr. Kwon believed that the separation would make SCP-1428-1 more willing to expose information about SCP-1428 and other related matters. Dr. Kwon's assumption was wrong.

SCP-1428-1 resisted much more than even I had anticipated. So I had to use much more forceful measures to pry the information out of him. SCP-1428-1 did not respond well to the shocks. When it finally wanted to cooperate, it only gave vague statements. It rambled about SCP-1428-2. Perhaps it was a scene from their childhood or from the Cortexiphan trials:

I remember they made me play dead. They wanted... to test [SCP-1428-2.] I thought... it was just a game. But [SCP-1428-2] really DID think I was dead. [SCP-1428-2] got mad. ... I remember fire. Screams. I thought I would die for sure.

Whether this was a scare tactic aimed to throw me off, a delusion from the drugs and the shocks, or the actual truth is unknown at present time. If this is true, then perhaps SCP-1428-2 is capable of pyrokinesis. But this seems illogical since we have not even seen a hint of this ability since its containment.

Afterward, SCP-1428-1 seemed to fall into a trance-like state. And then matters escalated from there.

It asked for SCP-1428-2. Then, for lack of a better term, it went berserk. It was much worse than the first empathic event [DATA REDACTED]. It much resembled the event [DATA REDACTED].

There was just carnage everywhere. Doctors cutting themselves open, strangling themselves to death, gauging their eyes out... During which SCP-1428-1 kept ranting about hopelessness, worthlessness, nothingness. All of those feelings spread to the doctors, like a virus. SCP-1428-1 killed them. It didn't listen to any pleas, any cries for mercy. It didn't care if doctors had families or friends. It killed them all. It would've escaped, if it weren't for the task force that finally took the SCP down.

SCP-1428-1 is now contained in its cell. Alone.

I hope Dr. Kwon is happy.


Cortexichildren

Item #: SCP-1428

Addendum-03: Another full empathic event has transpired. SCP-1428-1 is much more dangerous than we ever could have imagined.

Does an empathic event resemble a XK event? That is the question we must ask ourselves before proceeding. Does SCP-1428-1's object class need to be changed to Keter? Is there enough evidence to challenge its Euclid status? Should containment procedures be modified? Should the two humanoids still be contained together? What is our worst case scenario? – Dr. █████

O5-2 : More information must be gathered before we can jump to the Keter conclusion. Must I remind you how delicate the object reclassification process is? Regardless, the danger SCP-1428-1 poses without SCP-1428-2's ability to suppress its violent manifestations troubles me. However, I also fear what the two of them could do together, even heavily sedated, at this stage. SCP-1428-2 is openly hostile to the Foundation and has already begun to influence SCP-1428-1 to feel the same.

For the time being, the O5 will allow for the separate containment of SCP-1428-1 – thus changing current containment procedures. Further sedation procedures must also take into effect. At all times SCP-1428-1 must be heavily sedated; there will be no exceptions. I advise that only Class-D personnel handle the sedation process. And perhaps there should be a screening of Class-D personnel. We do not know the exact specifics of the manifestation process. In the event that SCP-1428-1 can tap into a person's latent suicidal desires, we must not have any Class-D personnel with ANY such suicidal tendencies, at any levels of consciousness, to come into contact with SCP-1428-1.

Preventing another empathic event is top priority with SCP-1428-1. I will discuss with the rest of the O5 if SCP-1428-1 should even be open to questioning procedures at all – especially the procedures that Dr. Hendricks implemented. Dr. Hendricks induced the empathic event. Unlike SCP-1428-2, SCP-1428-1 is weaker – the SCP said it itself. I advise that all questioning from here on out go through SCP-1428-2, despite its refusals. SCP-1428-2 can stand extreme levels of stress; SCP-1428-1 cannot.

O5-7 : Dr. Hendricks' "forceful measures" will be subjected to evaluation.


Personal Log of Dr. Wallace Hendricks:

So even though Dr. Kwan was supposed to be held personally responsible for anything – ANYTHING – bad that transpired because of the separation, I am the one held responsible?

Even though the O5 placed responsibility on HIM – because it was HIS decision to separate the two of them and NOT mine – I AM STILL TO BLAME? The FAVORITISM in this Foundation is beginning to rub me raw.

Sure I may have pushed SCP-1428-1, but I was only doing the essential – the necessary – to get the information. Dr. Kwon pleaded that excuse when HE was the one who removed them in the first place. He was the one that found their bond a HINDRANCE to his data-collection. He was the one that insisted and yet he accuses ME of being the guilty one.

ALL OF THE O5 FIND ME GUILTY WHERE I AM AS INNOCENT AS A MAN COULD BE.

My forceful measures were sound. I did NOT cause that event. I did NOT kill those people. SCP-1428-1 killed those people. Their blood is not on my hands. Their blood is not on my hands. Their blood is NOT ON MY HANDS.