"Paradigm Shift"
The very concept of "certainty" within the very foundation of our existence is a lie.
The idea that there can be something, anything that is set and definitive is quite simply, not true.
Humanity has learned this concept through millennia of realizing that their assumptions about the universe were wrong, time and time again.
When we used to think the earth was the center of the universe, when we believed life could sprout out of nothingness, when we thought our universe was the only one to exist; we were certain that was true.
When we thought there was such a thing as true contact between matter and matter, when we knew that nuclear power was impossible.
When we though matter was divisible up to a definitive point, we were certain.
When we knew that "matter" and "energy" were distinct things and not just disturbances in quantum fields, we were certain.
After so many realizations of how our certainties were incorrect, we began to understand that the very concept of certainty itself was impossible. And we were even able to mathematically prove that not even the universe itself could be certain about what would happen from moment to moment.
In the end, we concluded that even if Laplace's demon was real, it would not be able to tell what the future would hold.
Certainty is a lie.
But how does the human mind cope with this truth?
Simple, it doesn't.
Even the human minds most determined to exclude themselves from those self-imposed illusions and most decided to live exclusively within objective reality find themselves deluding themselves with "certainties" from time to time without realizing it. Because the mind has a much easier time dealing with a universe were some things are determined than one where none are.
Even within the foundation, the one group of people who is most acquainted with the uncertain nature of existence itself, there are some concepts that are universally accepted as "certain".
What you are about to read constitutes the interview log of one of multiple people involved in an incident where the foundation was reminded of this reality. That even their own accepted certainties were never certain in the first place.
Human history is defined by paradigm shifts, the moments that made us realize we were wrong about a major part of our beliefs all along. This is one such moment for the foundation:
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[INCIDENT 6124-MK INTERVIEW LOG #1]
[START OF LOG]
Interviewer: Good evening sir, my name is Dr. Elliot Higgins. I was sent from site 17 to assist with the interviews. You can imagine that, since all of the on-site researchers were witnesses to the event in some capacity, none of them were fit to conduct this investigation. How are you doing today?
Subject: Good evening… I've been better, still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing.
Interviewer: Well, perhaps talking about it in detail here will help. I know it works for me.
Subject: I hope so.
Interviewer: Please state your name and official designation for the record.
Subject: Officer Alisson McAlley, C class, security staff for site 19.
Interviewer: Thank you very much. Now, let's talk about the events of the incident that took place in Site-19 from xxxxxxxx to xxxxxxxx. Please start with the general overview of the events leading to the incident.
Subject: Sure thing. The whole situation began when a containment breach on mass scale took place. Multiple Euclid and Keter class objects breached containment and began attempting an escape. We managed to re-contain most of them with little issue… or at least with as little casualties as possible. The only two anomalies that remained at large after 6 hours were 106 and 682, and while most of the staff were dealing with 682 in the courtyard, the rest of us were trying to locate and re-contain 106. We were having technical difficulties with the femur breaker, and to make things worse, we were unable to locate 106.
Interviewer: I see, was there any particular reason 106 was unable to be located?
Subject: We suspected it was hiding in its pocket dimension. None of our equipment was able to locate it anywhere within the facility, but he kept appearing every now and then within the facility at random locations and at random intervals, so clearly it had yet to leave the building.
Interviewer: And what about the femur breaker? Why was it not operational?
Subject: …. Ummm…. We…. We couldn't find it… Someone, um…. Moved it… without… telling anyone.
Interviewer: … Anyways, let's continue.
Subject: Yeah, let's.
Interviewer: Tell me about the incident proper
Subject: It all started shortly after 6124 and 166 were secured in the emergency safe room alongside the rest of the site staff. I was one of the 4 security staff members assigned to that room. They were located each in makeshift containment units within the safe room to avoid contact with anyone else. Shortly after their arrival, 106 emerged from one of the walls of the safe room and proceeded to advance towards one of the makeshift units.
Interviewer: It is my understanding that said unit was the one holding 6124, correct?
Subject: Yes, that is correct.
Interviewer: I have also been made aware that 106 also made an appearance in 6124's main containment unit a few hours prior, can you confirm this?
Subject: I was informed of that incident as well, so yes.
Interviewer: Good, thank you, please proceed.
Subject: After 106 began to move towards the cell, Dr. Alto Clef proceeded to open fire at the entity with a number of firearms he had picked up earlier in the day.
Interviewer: And, just to clarify, Dr. Clef was the one that escorted 6124 and 166 to the safe room, correct?
Subject: Correct
Interviewer: What happened next?
Subject: 106 turned to Dr. Clef and began to scream incoherent sounds that appear to somewhat emulate human speech. Clef, in turn and to everyone's surprise, responded with eerily similar sounding screams… It was almost like they were… communicating… like…
Interviewer: Like those screams were some sort of language?
Subject: Yes, like that.
Interviewer: And then?
Subject: And then, 106 began to advance towards Clef, who did not cease shooting. This is when the door to 6124's unit flung open, the haphazardly made latch unable to hold the little girl back for too long. She then started to run towards Clef, presumably to protect him. One of my comrades attempted to step in, and that's when…
Interviewer: When the incident took place, correct?
Subject: Yes.
Interviewer: Please describe the incident in detail.
Subject: My comrade ran towards Luz, and out of habit from dealing with kids in other sites, he grabbed her hand to pull her away. Unfortunately, his had taken off his gloves earlier due to damage and had made skin-to-contact.
Interviewer: This would trigger 6124's anomalous properties, I presume.
Subject: Yes, it did. He fell to the ground almost instantly, dead. His body then began to twitch uncontrollably and began to be covered with an unidentified red substance, which spread from the point of contact. We are all staring in horror, as the 6124-A instance began to manifest.
Interviewer: Did 106 react in any way?
Subject: Not at first. After 30 seconds, the fully covered corpse stopped moving. It then began to move and twist in unnatural ways, almost like it was a fluid of some sort. It then took a vaguely humanoid shape, the red fluid now looking smooth, almost like it was skin. After that a couple of other features began to appear. Some bug-leg looking appendages on the head, claws on the hands, and 6 eyes arranged in a radial manner on what would be the face. A thin slit opening appeared near the bottom of the face, simulating a mouth. This is when 106 reacted. He stopped what he was doing and turned around to face 6124-A. He looked… odd. Even with his misshapen and deformed face, the old man managed to look… scared, horrified even.
Interviewer: What about Clef? Did he react in any significant way?
Subject: From what I could tell, he seemed more annoyed than anything else. I couldn't figure out why.
Interviewer: Hmmm…. I see. What did the 6124-A entity do next?
Subject: For a while it just stood there, looking around at taking in the room. We were all as still as we could be. In a sense, you could say we had all resigned ourselves to whatever was going to happen. We all knew that there was nothing we could do to stop whatever was about to happen. We all just assumed the worst… We were scared that we would die… but I think we were more scared of what it would do if it wouldn't kill us.
Interviewer: And then, what happened?
Subject: It looked around… and then looked at Luz… and it began… speaking… in English.
Interviewer: And what did it say?
Subject: It said, if I remember correctly: "You seem to have met quite the character, princess. I haven't seen this old chap in quite a while. Is he giving you any stress? I remember him being quite unpleasant to deal with." His voice was almost identical to my comrade's voice when he was alive, if only slightly deeper in tone. She responded with a simple nod. It then turned to 106 and noticed Clef, saying: "Oh, my. My apologies, I didn't see you there. How have you been young man? I haven't seen you in years! How are you doing? How's the wife? I hear I have a granddaughter!" Clef simply answered "Fuck you, asshole. Don't pretend to give a shit", to which it responded "Charming as always!" with a smile.
Interviewer: I'm sorry to interrupt, I just want to clarify here, are you sure that's exactly what it said?
Subject: Sir, with all due respect, that day was the most terrifying and confusing day of my life. I remember every detail like it played in slow motion. Not a day goes by where I don't remember every second of that moment with excruciating detail. So yes, I am 100% sure that that is what it said. You can ask the others later to confirm it, we were all shocked. We know what the implications are, we can't stop thinking or talking about it.
Interviewer: My apologies, it was just… a lot to take in… please continue.
Subject: Subject 6124-A then turned to face 106 and said: "Now, you have been giving these two quite a bit of stress, haven't you? I believe the customary procedure for me here is to… hold on a second, I know this… damn this human customs, always tripping me up. They are so arbitrary and meaningless… Ah! Yes! I'm supposed to "defend" them!... Now how do I do that?... should I erase you? No, no, you are too entertaining to let go just yet… Torture? No, I don't understand this "pain" thing enough to provoke it, and you may not even feel "pain" to begin with anyways."
Interviewer: What was 106 doing at this time?
Subject: Nothing, it was just standing there shitting his pants like all of us, scared and wildly confused.
Interviewer: Did the entity do anything at all?
Subject: Yes, to everyone's shock, it concluded by saying: "BAH! This is too much trouble for nothing! I'll just throw you back in your hole and let them decide what to do" It then made a clenching motion with its hand. 106 then seemingly began to collapse into space, screaming what I assume was screams of pain and/or terror. After a moment, it was gone. We later received reports that 106 had suddenly appeared back in its containment unit, and that they had managed to successfully activate the cell and re-contain it. Although it appears to be completely inactive ever since.
Interviewer: I see, so you can confirm the claims that 6124-A was the one to re-contain 106.
Subject: Yes… I … still can't believe it myself.
Interviewer: That's the main point I wanted to confirm today. What happened after that? What did 6124-A do after disposing of 106?
Subject: … It… nothing. After that it said goodbye to Luz and lost its shape, leaving a puddle of the red substance that evaporated completely within seconds, leaving nothing behind to analyze, to the researchers' disdain.
Interviewer: Is that so? Nothing else?
Subject: No. That's it. After that we regrouped and reinstituted the site to full operational capabilities. It took about a week to do so.
Interviewer: I see. Well, thank you for your time, I have other interviews to get through today. The information that you shared with me today is massive. It could very well change the very way the foundation operates from now on.
Subject: You're welcome.
[END OF LOG]
Officer McAlley was on her post the day after the interview. It was hard to imagine this place was the same place all of that had happened in.
She was thinking about the interview. Why did she lie? Why did she not mention what happened after that thing got rid of the old man?
Maybe it was because she couldn't believe it herself.
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"Um… e-excuse me!"
"Hmm? Yes? What do you want armed human?"
"It's… you… you got rid of him."
"I'm aware, I just did it."
"… Why?"
"Why? You ask for a reason? Well, I suppose very few are privy to this, and humans are curious beings. I did it to, as one would say, "protect my children" as "a father would""
"… So… you are her father?... and… his… father?"
"Yes, so long as my understanding of the concept of a "father" as a genetic progenitor is proper, that would be correct."
"… And you… did it because you… care… about them?"
"… Hmmm… that is a good question. I am not savvy in regard of human emotion and the experience of it. I do not know if I "care for them", but the purpose of an experiment is to learn, isn't it? At bare minimum, I did what I understand a "father" is expected to do, but the status of my own investment in them is yet unclear to me. How about this: once I have this resolved, I'll let you know. Anything else? This vessel won't hold for much longer, so be quick."
"…Are you really… him?"
"Armed human, your language is not my strong point. I am going to need you to be more specific as to who you mean by "him""
"… *gulp*… the… Scarlet King."
"… Well, if my understanding of what you humans call "The Scarlet King" is proper, then…"
"I suppose I am"