SCP-1428 – "Cortexichildren"

Chapter 5: SCP-1357

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… whatever. 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: Jeez writing SCP-verse things in the manor of an actual story is hard. & don't even get me started on actual files. Ugh. I almost can't wait until I can go back into the Fringe-verses. Writing that is SO MUCH EASIER YOU CAN'T EVEN UNDERSTAND.

Item #: SCP-1357

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1357 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-1357 is prohibited unless for research purposes authorized by at least 5 members of O5 Command.

Transportation Procedures: While SCP-1357 is being transported from its cell to a research facility, Class A sedatives must be used at all times. Upon entering SCP-1357's cell, sedatives must be administered immediately and must continue until SCP-1357 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-1357 has been successfully transferred to a secure research room, sedatives given to SCP-1357 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-1357 is a Caucasian female of average height with blonde hair and hazel eyes. SCP-1357, according to SCP-1375, has the substance Cortexiphan in its system, triggering abilities. SCP-1357's abilities, however, are unknown at this time.

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.

SCP-1357 has expressed care for human life, especially in the event of [DATA REDACTED]. The extent of these feelings are unknown.

Note-01: Not much is known about SCP-1357 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

In hindsight, causing such a scene over Nick was probably foolish. Because now Olivia was in an even worse situation than before. Instead of being in her cell, she was on a stretcher headed to who knows where. And she was sedated to the point of barely being conscious. And the link with Nick seemed to be severed. Because no matter how hard she concentrated, she could not sense where he was or how he was.

Olivia closed her eyes. She meant to only for a short while. But when she opened them, she was in the same interrogation room she remembered from Nick's thoughts. She saw the same vials, the same syringes, the same threatening electro-shock device. She even saw the same panel of doctors with their coats and their pens.

"Where… where am I?" Her voice was weak, so weak it was foreign to her. "What… what are you doing to me?"

"My name is Dr. Hendricks. Things did not go well with your counterpart. You are being questioned so that we can better determine your status." The man seemed very stiff, not as menacing as the glimpses she had seen from Nick. He seemed on edge, nervous – the kind of nervousness she saw when people's jobs or lives were on the line.

"What did Nick tell you?" Olivia was curious how much they were able to get out of him. And she truly needed to know what they knew. She needed to know if tailoring her answers and hiding facts were necessary. Or if she could trust them enough to be open with them, but she doubted that option.

"SCP-1375 told us about Cortexiphan and about Dr. Bishop and Dr. Bell. It did not give us specifics, but SCP-1375 mentioned that a facility in Jacksonville was experimenting with Cortexiphan. And that it gave its test subjects various abilities." Dr. Hendricks looked down at his clipboard, more for guidance and less for reciting information, "SCP-1375 repeated that you were the strongest out of all of the children given Cortexiphan."

"That's all?" That wasn't much.

"That's all," Dr. Hendricks echoed.

"Will you be injecting me with the same thing you injected him?"

"That depends on your cooperation. I'm not sure if you are aware, but SCP-1375 controlled me earlier. He nearly forced me to dig my jugular out with a syringe. Before that, he was in quite a mood, bickering with himself, begging himself not to kill me and my colleagues. And before the serum was administered, he was determined to stay silent." Dr. Hendricks smoothed out the wrinkles in his coat with his white hands, "We'd rather not have to resort to such measures. We'd rather you just us tell the truth. Some of us believe that SCP-1375 was not entirely truthful."

"Everything he said is correct," Olivia stated. "But I won't tell you anything else unless you get me out of these restraints. And unless you tell me a bit about yourselves." Olivia would test the limits of their leniency. How desperately did they need this information? How essential was it to their plans?

Dr. Hendricks glanced, worriedly, back at his partners.

"Proceed, Dr. Hendricks," a loud voice boomed. It sounded apathetic and possibly female.

The guards on either side of Olivia untied her from her restraints and helped her sit up.

"Will the sedatives be wearing off soon? I'm not sure I'll be able to give you 100% accurate information if I'm not fully aware." Olivia wanted to smirk at this Dr. Hendricks, but she stifled it down. Enraging him did not seem to be the best course of action. "Now tell me what your company wants."

"For starters…" Dr. Hendricks interrupted himself with a fit of laughter. Olivia couldn't help but detect a tone of condescension in his high pitched inhaling and exhaling of air. "This is not a company; this is a foundation. This is the SCP Foundation and it was created to secure and contain scientific anomalies, study those anomalies, and protect the larger human population from such anomalies. These anomalies are also called SCPs."

"You are correct to call me an anomaly, but I'm no SCP," Olivia smiled. "I'm just like you, but with some additional… features."

"Would you care to tell us about those features?"

"Unfortunately for you, I don't remember the trials. Unlike Nick, I don't remember the specifics of what Dr. Bell and Dr. Bishop did to me. In fact I only recently realized that I was treated with Cortexiphan. It was only in the past few years that I tested positive and started seeing… differences."

"What are those differences?"

Olivia needed to tread lightly. She would expose a little, but not too much. Just give them a taste. Just give them a speck to work with. She would deal with the consequences later. She did not trust this SCP Foundation. It seemed all too much like Massive Dynamic, given a blind eye by the government to do whatever it pleased. Who knew what kind of cover-ups and lies were spread by this organization. Who knew which lives were truly at stake and who truly were in the balance.

"Cortexiphan mainly works with human perception – how we can see and change the reality around us. Cortexiphan quite literally works on the possibilities of the mind. We can push past previously conceived limitations to achieve… things." Perhaps she had said too much? "Cortexiphan truly has changed my understanding of the world. My awareness has widened. I can hear things and see things normal humans can't."

"Like what?" Dr. Hendricks' patience seemed to be tested. He kept scratching his left wrist and clenching and unclenching his jaw. "What things? Please be more specific."

But how specific did Olivia want to go? How far did she want to lead them down Walter Bishop and William Bell's rabbit hole? She did not want any of them getting delusions of grandeur. In the event that they HAD lied to her, and that this foundation wasn't about protecting but really war-mongering, she would withhold plenty.

Plus she doubted they would believe her if she dropped that she was from another universe. Perhaps if the time came… but not yet. These doctors couldn't even make up their minds if Cortexiphan was real or not. But it's not like Olivia could tell them how to synthesize the compounds. And it's not like she wanted to. If they got smart, they would do what the Other Side did – try to operate on her brain; try to see what made her truly special. But if the SCP Foundation was more about securing and containing, perhaps not. Perhaps they truly were more of an "imprison first, ask questions later" kind of operation. Perhaps that would work to her advantage – buy her enough time to get the two of them out of there. Olivia would play along with their little game, on her own terms of course.

"Is supersonic hearing interesting enough for your doctor friends behind you?" Olivia smiled, but it actually resembled more of a sneer. "Even now I can hone in on each of their individual heart beats. Someone's watch isn't completely in sync with the rest. There's a fly skittering across the wall behind you all and I can hear every little move it makes."

"What else?" Even though the doctors behind Hendricks were nodding and furiously writing away, Dr. Hendricks was not so easily impressed.

"Cortexiphan can sometimes allow me to see different possibilities – different outcomes of futures." She would graze parallel universes without actually spelling it out. She would only scratch the surface. "I can 'jump' between these outcomes, although not always at will. I've seen different outcomes of the people I know. In these possible futures, they have made different choices and thus have led different lives."

"Explain more about this ability, SCP-1357." Dr. Hendricks leaned in.

She scowled at what seemed nothing more but a prison number, even worse than Subject 13. "It's hard for me to explain, since I can't always control it. I'll get flashes – glimpses – without consciously wanting it." Olivia licked her lips, which were getting quite chapped. "I can move some metal objects, but only certain objects that I feel bonded to." She dared not mention her connection to the machine Peter operated, which had the power to destroy universes. She dared not mention that kind of technology to these people at all.

"Interesting. So you and SCP-1375… were not provided adequate 'training' to control these abilities? Since you have expressed that you cannot always control yours, and SCP-1375 does not seem to always be in control of his."

"It's a very gradual process. And after we were removed from Jacksonville, the Cortexiphan remained dormant in our systems. We had to be activated."

"Ah. And do tell what that process entails."

In the event that there WAS Cortexiphan in this universe, the information Olivia was about to disclose would be crucial. However she would have to assume that they WERE truly a protective agency – more like a Fringe division and less like a rogue government entity. Perhaps this establishment truly was the Fringe division of this universe, but it was too early to tell. "To some groups, we are soldiers – potential soldiers. But before we can even be labeled soldiers, we are recruits that need to be activated." Olivia carefully left out the ZFT and the specifics of its manifesto. "The activation process, for me, was very rushed and I believe it's varied. I do not know how Nick was activated, nor how other children have been activated, but I was given a test. I had to turn off a series of light bulbs by only using my mind." Olivia was going to tell them about how she was able to save people with that ability, by stopping David Robert Jones' bomb, but she resisted. Saying that she was from the FBI would cause this SCP Foundation to poke around at her history – the Olivia Dunham of this universe's history. For all the SCP Foundation knew, she was just Olivia, sometimes Olive. And that was all she would tell them and all they would know. Olivia's safety did not need to be put at risk.

"Let me play out a hypothetical scenario," Dr. Hendricks put his clipboard down and folded his arms across his lap. "Let's say this Cortexiphan substance is real. Let's say that there WERE drug trials down in Jacksonville. Let's say that there are other children like you running around. Is it safe to say that most of them have not been activated?"

Olivia wanted to tell them that they had nothing to worry about, but she honestly didn't know herself. She did not know if the Walter Bishop and the William Bell of this universe had conducted trials together or separately. Or if someone else had discovered Cortexiphan and carried out with drug trials. She did not know if Cortexiphan existed in this universe or not. In theory, if their abilities lay dormant, perhaps not. But who's to say that another person, a nobody, wouldn't run around activating all the dormant children for whatever purposes? It had happened in her universe, why not here?

She answered with "I'm not quite sure, Dr. Hendricks. Again, I was only a subject. And I was only a child."

"Yes, of course." Dr. Hendricks stroked the faint whispers of white hair on his chin that could only tentatively be labeled a beard. "Are there any additional questions from my colleagues behind me?"

"Olivia-" A woman with purple lipstick began before she was interrupted.

"SCP-1357, Dr. Montgomery," Dr. Hendricks warned. "Unless you want to elicit a certain response, you will address the SCP by its proper numbering system. It may look humanoid, but it is not one of us. Please follow standard protocol."

Olivia frowned. Even the Fringe Division had never stooped so low, even with the most removed of humanoid objects. They were all still human. And if these SCP people didn't think she was human, what would they think of the Observers and their unknown ways? What would they think of their strange language, eating habits, and ability to time travel? What of their emotionless speech, their sideways motions of the head, their confusion with the human condition?

"SCP-1357," Dr. Montgomery began again. She had a pleasant, soothing voice. "Can you expand on the bond you share with SCP-1375? Could you explain why he calls you 'Olive?'"

"Before I met Nick a few years ago, no one had referred to me as Olive. But it turns out, that was my name during the drug trials. Nick is the only person who still calls me that."

"So only SCP-1357 is allowed to?"

"No. Nick chooses to. We were paired together by the team… for reasons I don't know. I just know that a buddy system made it easier for us to go through it all. Nick and I formed an emotional bond and a psychic link during that time. It only recently reconnected."

"How recently?"

"I met Nick in…" Olivia had to be careful to keep the FBI information out. But then again, this new Nick did not remember the initial incident at the top of the building. She wouldn't have to pull out lie after lie; she could tell the truth this time. "I was taking a walk. And I saw Nick on a park bench. He looked familiar. But even before that… I felt drawn to this park. I knew that something was there, something important. And there he was, just sitting there. He remembered me, called me Olive. This was probably…" How long had she been in this place? "It was only a few days before you captured us." She chose to use the word captured above anything else.

"We didn't capture you," Dr. Montgomery frowned. "We only wish to-"

"That's enough, Dr. Montgomery," Dr. Hendricks growled back at her. "You are still new and learning, I understand that. This is your first assignment, I understand that, but you must take a neutral approach to this humanoid SCP or I will have you transferred. Is that understood?"

'This side of Hendricks must have troubled Nick, too,' Olivia couldn't help but wonder. 'He seems two-faced. Something shook him, caught him off guard, but now he's reverting back to whatever his version of normal is.'

"Any other questions before we begin transportation procedures?" Hendricks continued to look around.

"I do." The man with the thick black glasses and the ruffled brown hair looked at Olivia.

"Ah yes, Dr. Kwon." Dr. Hendricks rolled his eyes – a motion that did not go undetected by Olivia. "Proceed."

This Dr. Kwon smirked, as if he had seen his effect on Dr. Hendricks himself. "Before SCP-1375 was administered our truth serum, and during the procedure, you expressed pain. What exactly was happening between the two of you? What did you see? What did you hear?"

"It was the bond between us, I guess. It's especially strengthened when we're in danger or under stress. I was able to find Nick in the park because he was feeling particularly down. I was able to experience what was happening to Nick, down to his breathing, because he was terrified. He was sedated and restrained and you still chose to inject him with something." Olivia's face wore pure disgust, "What kind of facility is this? And don't give me shit about the ends justifying the means. Nick is a person, not a science experiment – like everyone wants you to believe. We are human beings. We love and we protect those we love."

"Is love another trigger for the bond?" Dr. Kwon looked up from behind those glasses with an expression Olivia couldn't quite place.

"On his end, yes. He feels much more strongly for me than I do for him."

"Meaning?" She could've sworn Dr. Kwon was smiling.

"He's always remembered me from Jacksonville. And he's always needed me since. I forgot about everything – including him. And I still don't remember much, even after reuniting with him. My mind is blank. He has a lot more about me to draw from."

"I see. That will be all."

"This will conclude today's research session. Bring SCP-1357 back to its containment cell. Use the Class D sedatives." The apathetic female voice droned again. "The O5 will determine when the next research session will be. In the meantime, the O5 will allow the two SCPs to be contained together – in a larger space: a seven-by-seven meter room with the same daily and hourly provisions originally listed. SCP-1375 has already been safely transported there. The O5 believe that this will deter SCP-1375's hostility and will foster needed cooperation without desperate measures. The Foundation may also be able to see the bond between the two SCPs in a more natural setting."

Olivia was a bit relieved to hear that the two of them would be together again. Olivia would be able to survive apart from Nick, but Nick would be lost without her. They were lucky that Nick had made it this far without any worse incidents. The sedatives really were saving the Foundation's ass.

But the sedatives were still needed to transport Olivia and she didn't want that. She wanted the clarity and security that she was experiencing now. She did not want to go back into the daze of the unknown. She would not be swimming in a drugged state again.

"I can walk myself," Olivia tried to reason with the guards approaching her from all sides. "There's no need for this-"

"Oh yes there is," Dr. Hendricks gave her a smile that was quite unsettling. "We're not taking any more chances with the two of you ever again."

The doctors had made the mistake of talking around her during transport. She was conscious enough to hear them, even conscious enough to remember their words.

"I guess this means we'll have to rewrite all of their files, won't it?"

"But to what? If we assume that the true SCP event is the Cortexiphan, then we merely incorporate the two humanoid SCPs into that file." Olivia recognized the voice of the younger doctor with the glasses – that Dr. Kwon man.

"But not much is given about Cortexiphan. It's a chemical compound that's entirely unknown." She didn't recognize this person. "I mean we don't even know what it looks like. Is it a pill? Is it a liquid? For all we know it could've been given to them in a breakfast cereal."

Dr. Kwon again. "What else can we do? They ARE linked. They're not separate events, like we thought they were. And they both said it themselves – there are more of them out there. And both SCPs repeated that they feel a bond to each other. They are linked. What if they're all linked to each other?" He started to get eager – eager to a degree that worried Olivia. "We soon may have a whole facility devoted just to contain people with Cortexiphan." He paused, "But when should the task forces be alerted? When should they start to take action?"

"I'm not sure. You know that's not a decision we can make." This was another doctor.

"The O5 sure have a lot to consider." Also an unknown doctor. "And has O5-2 ever been so involved in an event before?"

"How can you make out their names? You have them all memorized matching their numbers? How can you be so sure?" The female doctor from before – Dr. Montgomery.

Dr. Kwon chuckled lightly, "You're still new here, Dr. Montgomery; you'll make the adjustment. Also I have to apologize for Dr. Hendricks' behavior. He hasn't been the same ever since he's moved projects." He cleared his throat, as if staying away from the subject. "But I haven't heard every O5, even in my six years of being here. But O5-2 was vehement that the trials had never taken place. How does he know that? Was Doctor Bishop a close colleague of his? Or a friend? How could he be SO entirely certain?"

"Yeah. He didn't even entertain the possibility of it happening. It's bizarre."

Dr. Kwon was on a roll. "And how he advised that we need to advance with absolute skepticism. Are we supposed to trust absolutely nothing any of the SCPs say? How will we make any progress? If we can't find the doctors responsible – and of course O5-2 would say IF there are doctors responsible – how will we be able to find the other children? How will we have better information to containing and controlling them? It seems so… counter-intuitive." He gasped, "Of course don't tell anyone I said this. They'll terminate me for sure."

"Termination?" Dr. Montgomery laughed. "I thought that was only something they did to the Class-D personnel – the prisoners."

"Oh no," Dr. Kwon's energetic voice was now grave. Any eagerness he once had had been replaced with hushed formality. "Anyone can be terminated at any time for breaking protocol. The S, C, and P in SCP must be maintained at all times."

If Olivia hadn't been sedated, she would have shivered. Using prisoners to do who knows what? Terminating anyone who moved the slightest bit out of turn? This was no normal government agency. This was something larger, something larger entirely.

She needed to get out. She did not trust this SCP Foundation.