Just finished a game of SCP Secret Laboratories.
I never would've thought that this game could be so... enjoyable. I also didn't expect some great company of other players, and neither did I expect it to be free on Steam. Too bad the game ended after just a couple of hours of gameplay, and I closed down my pc in order to get me some lunch.
Sure, It may be past 12 o'clock, and I may also have forgotten to get the rice cooked. But can ya really blame me? It was so engrossing that if any of ya'll saw me playing, ya would've labeled me as a sweaty try hard. One thing everyone all need to know is that how time consuming playing games in general really is, like if someone played a game at a Saturday afternoon, by the time they're done gaming it would've been already dark outside.
So lost I was in getting the right amount of rice that I didn't notice someone tapping the coffee table at my back. When I looked on whom the fuck it was, (probably my stupid cat, Boris, chewing the magazine again. I was home alone) I stopped breathing and my vision took a shade of grey.
Someone in an orange jumpsuit was sitting on my chair, resting his feet on the mahogany table and cradling a sleeping Boris. His relaxed stance made my instinct scream out in danger, as his eyes shone in amusement and his hand scratched the head of my cat. But what really surprised me was his smile that had been on the face of someone I truly know that made me stop breathing for a moment.
...He had my face, complete with all the acne, blemishes, and pimples I have.
"Greetings," (God, even his voice sounds like mine. And it's oddly cringy for some reason.) he spoke, his hand never leaving cat is continues scratching his head, " 'Tis a fine sunny day, ain't it?"
"Who...?" I asked as I stood there, eyebrow raised.
The guy simply raised a hand and waved. "Please, no need to be wary." He then went back to scratching my cats head. "I'm here for a business opportunity."
This time, my other eyebrow was raised at his reason for being here. "Wait, so you're telling me that you just broke into my home, for a business proposal?" My hands then went into my pockets as I fished out my phone. "...Yeah no, sorry buddy. But I'm calling the cops."
They guy merely blinked at me, then ever so slowly, raised up his hand again, and snapped. And just like that, my phone disappeared from my hands. There wasn't even any warning, it just poofed out of existence. My guy literally Thanos Snapped my phone away.
"AAH!" And I may or may not have screamed like a girl.
"Like I said," The guy then leaned ever so slightly, that the lights made coming from the windows made him look so... sketchy. "No need to be wary."
"W-who are you?" If I wasn't afraid of the guy earlier, I am now.
There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he gave me a smirk. "The name's ROB, buddy."
"Rob? W-what, like short for Robbie?" I asked him as I licked my dry lips. Shit, this is scaring me too much.
"Oh, we both know on what my name is short for. You just gotta think, Dwane." The way he said my name, it rubbed me in all of the worst places. And what does he mean 'I know what his name is short for'? I haven't even spoke to that many people for the past year, much less someone that looks like me! Rob? What, is it short for 'Random Omnipoten-'
Realization kicked in. And I swear his smirk blew into one of those weird smiles people make when they're getting sadistically satisfied.
Oh god no.
Hell to the nines fuck no.
I am honest to god staring at someone who looks and sounds like me, and I swear to god I was home alone. As a member of this site and a lurker of Creative Writing, I just knew who this was:
ROB had visited me, and it was time to become one of the SI Club.
My breathing became short and sharp, but still I kept my eyes on the ROB and gave a 'just wait' gesture, and the thing (?) before me nodded.
I don't know what happened next, although Me ROB (It is still cringy hearing him talk with my voice) told me that I hyperventilated, cried and sobbed a lot.
Time passed, at least this ROB wasn't impatient as others had written as I sought to regain my bearings and calm down my raging thoughts.
"So, ya ready for what's to come next?" asked Me ROB.
Well, since my life was about to be over, I decided to say 'fuck you' to propriety and be blunt. "No, to be frank, all I know is that it's my time to be ROB'd someplace else for your amusement." I prayed that this one didn't have a 40k school of thought.
If anything, that smile of his widened fractionally, discomfiting me as it looked positively sinister. "Ah, yes. Suffice to say I won't throw you into the deep end that much." Of course, dude can easily read my mind. How foolish of me to not think so. "Good, good. You know your limits and all that jazz so let's get down to it as you mortals say."
I just nodded. What could you do? Aggravate him and then I'll end up somewhere much more "interesting" and "entertaining" for him.
So I hoped that the playground for me would not assfuck me from the get go. Just go with the flow, you know?
"Since most of the SI's right now are all the rage about popular fictions as the current fad; I still remember some getting summoned as familiars, I've decided to be a bit…different. You see, it always starts with the poor old sods getting instantly flung into shit creek in without a guide or map, and that's getting cliché and stale."
"So is this situation." I blurted out. Realizing my passé, my two hands quickly cover my mouth, but too late to stop the words that already came out. My pallor at this moment could be called bone bleach, if I ever survive this whole ordeal.
Instead, Me ROB chuckles. Boris, my lovely cat, just yawns at my feet and starts heading towards my- our room. I envy the little guy, he's just leaving and probably getting some zzz's while I'm over here dealing with this timebomb. I just hope that he won't pee on the mattress again, still having troubles dealing with his terrible habits.
"Well, thanks for the barrels of laughter buddy." He says as he snapped his fingers, and suddenly a notebook materializes in the middle of us. He gestured me to open it, and so I did. I see the familiar handwriting and blood rushes to my face, realizing what those bunch of papers contained.
It was my outlines and notes comparing the discrepancies between Originium from Arknights and Tiberium from Command and Conquer! I mean, the horribly drawn artworks with some scribbled notes underneath was a dead giveaway.
"Hmmm…"
Me ROB hummed and in one case, raised his eyebrow and then uttered my death sentence.
"Interesting…"
I slump my shoulders in defeated resignation. So my "what if" scenario is the clear winner, eh? I just have to make sure to get SOME concessions from him. My life and my sanity were at stakes here.
"I'm going to be sent there, aren't I?" I asked rhetorically. "And since there's nothing I can do, what am I supposed to do there?"
"The usual, entertain me and survive the various obstacles thrown across you." Ok, standard issue. "But, since I want some schadenfreude, you're going to command a standard Tiberium Wars GDI MCV." He grinned. "Let's see how you deal with all the BS Arknights has to offer, hmm?"
I thought hard on this issue. On one hand, I'm thankful that he just didn't throw me off the deep end; the fact that I'm having this conversation with him shows his consideration, can't say that with most of the other SI's there. At least he's giving me the illusion of choice on my options.
On the other hand, he left me with a Sword of Damocles up on my head. I shivered. I've read about the Soviet-like gulags in Arknights and I don't want to end there, I'm pretty sure my presence alone will have the major people in power or whatever groups it has regarding Groups of Interest hawkishly watching me for any exploitations. Heck, I'll be up against some of the powerful and destructive people who wouldn't even bat an eye if they accidentally cut a building in half.
"One, no two last questions before I go feet first into hell." There goes that smirk again. "Why not throw me to someplace else? You know that'd give you more entertainment, because at least I'll be stumbling around like a headless chicken."
The ROB facing me snorts. "Too cliché, and it's already been used so much that it has gotten too stale for me. Besides, you'll be so weak at the start that it wouldn't even be fun both for you and me. So, I've decided to root for the underdog, and I'm willing to see if you can pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Unless," he materializes a very familiar oriental insignia from the Red Alert 3, "you want to experience the bushido mojo and shout Banzai every five seconds?"
Nope. Nope nope nope to the hell fuck no! The real-life Imperial Japanese Army was a dark stain on both sides of my family and to serve them willingly? Fuck that noise. I shook my head so fast I was sure my neck would've snapped if kept going.
"Alright ROB you win, it seems that we are going to go there on the side of the Soviets," I waved my hand limply at the papers floating. "But please be noted that I am a barely fit Filipino unsuited to the rigors of combat."
He gives a 'go on' gesture with a lazy hand wave, while smiling, knowing that he has me lock, stock and barrel.
I raise my fist and start enumerating, "Firstly," my index finger comes up, "I barely speak other languages, but I'm fluent in English; my Japanese is elementary at best since it's an elective I'm currently taking." The middle finger comes next. "Secondly, what I've read cannot compensate for real-life experiences where I'm going." My ring finger decides to takes its place alongside the first two. "Third and last good sir, I have not led more than a dozen people. I don't have the charisma and in-depth knowledge frankly to be a Renaissance Man unlike some SB'ers."
I put down my arms and sighed shakily.
Thankfully throughout my speech Me ROB just nodded, I just hoped that the guy would understand my points and compensate me for his play testing. I tensed when he finally nodded and looked at me in the eyes.
"Good point. It won't just do to have you die on the first time around. So in lieu of that presentation I'll endeavor to correct those inefficiencies," Uh oh. "That you so cogently pointed out."
I braced myself, my body stiff and my hands gripping tightly on the armrests, waiting for the inevitable result. Me ROB muttered a "overreaction much" before snapping his fingers.
Time passed, and not a single thing happened. Cracking open one eye, I saw Me ROB giving me a blank stare with his arms crossed.
"Uh, wasn't it like to be a painful process?"
Me ROB made a face as if he just gotten offended. "No! Just because you read others experience it, doesn't mean you'll also feel it."
"Oh." Well, that was anticlimactic. "What happens now?"
"Now? Now, we get you on your merry way."
My vision seemed to have tunneled, and I somehow ended up sprawled on the cold tiles of the floor. A sleepy feeling appeared and I find it harder to stay awake by the second. Despite the seering sunlight from the window beside me blinding, I kept getting sleepier and sleepier.
The floors suddenly started to echo the heavy footsteps and I could make out the orange jumpsuit of my benefactor.
"You're still awake? Good." I wanted to bore into his being with laser eyes but to my disappointment, nothing happened.
"Don't worry, you'll also bring your cat with ya." He told me as I everything went dark.
Everything felt nothing, formless. Then I felt myself on a sit. When I opened my eyes, I found a glowing-like table in front me.
"All systems operational. Welcome back, Commander." The Glowy Table spoke in a calming, female voice before I felt my eyes rolling back as I felt my consciousness leave towards Snoozy Land.
A/N: Yeah, I just made this. I wrote this after playing CC3 Tiberium Wars and its expansion Kane's Wrath.
So, first things first, yes, this was inspired by other similar works by other authors.
Second, this is a bit more lighthearted than the works of others. But of course, it'll still be serious whenever the story needs to.
Third, I'll be combining both game mechanics with realistic mechanics.
Fourth, I'll also write this story with the premise use of mods. Namely Crossfire, Tiberium Essence and a few still being in vanilla.
Last, I don't know when I'll be updating this. So don't expect a schedule from me. I'm only writing this for fun.