SCP-1428 – "Cortexichildren"

Chapter 25: Inevitability

Disclaimers: When I began writing Cortexichildren, SCP-1428 was vacant. It is no longer vacant, but I have no intentions of publishing this on the wiki. 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: It's shameful how long this took to come out. & what's even more shameful is how many excuses I came up with to rationalize this absence. Because this chapter has literally been sitting for a YEAR. I came up with most of this May 2014 & it's sat THIS LONG.

For a while, I could claim that it was the World Cup [& yes, I was super DIE MANNSCHAFT! during it all.] & then yeah I moved into my new dorm & settled into a new schedule. But… what really happened for QUITE an extended period of time was… I just… I didn't feel like writing this fic. I went thru what I can only label as a "Nick" phase; my self-hate was maximum & my energy was non-existent. The only things I wrote for most of the summer was Outlast meta – which is why you see some familiar names here. If this is an AU without Massive Dynamic, this might also be an AU without the Murkoff Corporation.

Hilariously in the absence of this fic, I HAVE written a lot – especially during my summer break. Along with Outlast meta, I did a LOT of Fringe meta over on my mainblog [ tealrallythong.] I even did a series comparing & contrasting Outlast & Fringe themes & characters [lol I didn't even finish THAT]. I even made up a hypothetical Outfringe-verse taking place in Season 4. & you might have gotten a notification for not one but TWO fics I wrote on here… but for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. So this account updated, just not the fic you wanted. & I did write… just not this.

Then two semesters for the art school happened, leaving me entirely burnt out – even for most Tumblr things. My self-hate got even worse, & the desire to write became almost non-existent. Even my meta-writing just diminished. I lived - & am still living – very much day to day. The best part of my days are when I get to sleep, & it's not for very long. It's a grind that isn't even going to fully end, since I'll be taking summer classes too. I'm thankful I get to make photos as my education, but the standards I'm judged at - & the standards & anxiety I impose upon myself – are just… unbearable sometimes.

BUT ENOUGH EXCUSES & MY LIFE. I've decided to post all the shit I have, hopefully to jumpstart this fic again. & hopefully after proofing this & revisiting what I wrote in the first place, my style doesn't change too much? Slightly terrified lol.

But back to the actual story: all those teams and POVs are gunna link up… very soon. LOL THAT WAS THE LONGEST AUTHOR NOTE OF MY ENTIRE LIFE. INCREDIBLE.

"This Site is experiencing a raid by Chaos Insurgency operatives. All unarmed personnel are to evacuate to their designated safe locations. All armed personnel are to engage-"

Astrid shut off the alarm system inside their cubby of a room. The flashing lights and screaming sirens had gotten old a long time ago. Sweat dripped from her brow; she didn't expect this mission to turn into a full-out war. She had expected difficulty – her double had given her an hour lecture on all the different possibilities that she could account for – but not this. Even with Astrid's gift of probability, this was an unexpected chain of events.

Astrid continued to shut down as much of the security system as possible. Or at least block their feeds from being monitored by other sources. She liked keeping an eye on all three teams outside their complex.

"Lee, could you check on Park and Sanders?" Her fingers were caught up in a flurry of movement.

Agent Lee smiled. She looked so much like the Agent Farnsworth he was familiar with – glued to a multitude of screens, maintaining her calm, seemingly in control of reality itself. They truly were a lot alike. "With pleasure." He pressed his visor, "Agent Park? Agent Sanders? How's it look like out there?"

He had a clean shot from the vent. Agent Trager lined up the eyepiece of the experimental weapon to his visor. Their Scarred Leader had specifically given it to him. The gun could do wonders, but "You, you can do so much more." Its shots, pure energy, were silent and sought out only organic tissue. This was its first mission; he considered himself honored, but would it work?

Agent Trager inhaled, blinked, and took the shot.

Agent Sanders smiled, "Nothing so fa-" Before he could finish his sentence, he grabbed his neck and fell to the floor.

The target was down, blood spewing everywhere, but Agent Trager snarled – he had missed. Now he had to hurry the second shot before his location was spotted.

"Fuck. Really?"

Agent Park's head darted everywhere. "Sanders is down. I don't know who's out there. Protect Agent Farns-" Agent Park was shot right through his visor, between the eyes.

Astrid screamed. Agents Lee and Gonzalez flipped their visors through their various sight settings.

"There, in the vents." Agent Lee aimed his gun, but decided against it. "I'm not sure we can penetrate those doors. But if we go out there for the better shot, we're fucked."

"Not necessarily." Astrid's fingers were working to find a solution to their immediate problem. She had momentarily lost her composure with her scream, but she promised herself never again. She also internally apologized to Olivia, because she would have to diverge from her directive. But this was immediate. Her life – their lives – were on the line. She looked through the plans of the area. This agent, possibly the one they had seen in the hallway, was situated in vent B-12. Astrid discovered that she could flood that vent with a chemical gas, possibly the black gas they had passed. "Let's see if this works," she said, initiating the procedure.

The agent scrambled out of the vents, falling to the floor a few rooms down from them.

"Go. Get him while he's vulnerable." Astrid turned to them apprehensively. She knew they had to destroy their target, but… she didn't want them to end up like Sanders and Park, bleeding corpses just outside their door. She shivered at the thought of losing them too. And she shivered again; she would be alone in this room.

Agent Gonzalez sensed this. "Don't worry. We'll come back." He placed his hands on her shoulders for the sixth time? The seventh? Astrid had lost count. "You seal yourself off in here. If anything happens to us, you get out of here. You've already completed your end of the mission: you've taken out their defenses; you've given the others the last-known whereabouts of our targets; you've alerted everyone of the third party. If anything happens to us, you climb back up that vent, and you get back to Bishop and the Beta team. Is that understood, Agent Farnsworth?"

Astrid was shaking. "I… I can't leave you behind. Not… not like them… out there."

"You save yourself and you get back to Bishop. That's an order. Repeat that back to me."

Astrid lowered her gaze and sighed. "If anything happens, I save myself. I get back to Bishop. I assist the Beta team. Acknowledged."

"You're going to be fine," he assured her. The two of them exited the room.

Astrid took a deep breath and ran her fingers down the sides of her face. She was still shaking. She hoped so.

Agent Trager swore again. He might have broken a rib from the fall, and possibly dislocated one of his ankles. Everything lower than his waist was numb. He hadn't expected that dramatic of a drop, but now he was on the floor and destined to stay there.

They had probably spotted him by now. Trager's eyes darted to the weapon, what seemed like five feet away from him. He wasn't sure he'd be able to defend himself, but that didn't matter. What mattered was the weapon; no other party could lay hands on it. He didn't know much about this other group, but he was given specific orders from the Scarred Man that he should die rather than place it in the Foundation's grasp.

And he was prepared to. He flipped onto his stomach and crawled toward the weapon. If he could get to the self-destruct mechanism, everyone would be taken care of. Everything within twenty feet would be obliterated. Mission completed. He would be a martyr. He would finally be a hero. Not a quitter, but a hero.

"You ready to go in there?" Agent Lee turned to his best friend and gave him a good look, hopefully not for the last time.

"Yeah." Agent Gonzalez cracked his neck a few times and shook out his legs.

"Heh. We'll get you back to Agent Farnsworth real quick."

Before Gonzalez could object, Lee counted down from five. On one they opened the automatic door and saw a lone agent and his lone gun.

"There's nothing you can do to stop it. You can't es-" Agent Lee shot the man through the throat, just as he had shot Agent Sanders. Agent Lee closed in and shot the man point blank between the eyes, just as he had shot Agent Park. Agent Lee let out a sigh.

"I think I know what the man was referring to." Agent Gonzalez pointed down to the weapon. "It's not just a gun; it's a bomb. I don't know how to deactivate it. And we don't need to be here any longer besides." He motioned for Agent Lee to follow him. "We leave. We get Farnsworth and we leave."

Astrid kept flipping through feeds, anything to keep her mind from worrying. Everything seemed okay. And they were headed back in her direction! And Agent Lee was doing something with his arms, frantically waving – almost like a beckoning signal. What did he want?

She approached the doors and opened them. Agent Gonzalez continued to sprint past the room, only Agent Lee stopped. And he didn't stop for long, only to jog in, reach for her arm, and pull her out of the room, nearly yanking out her arm in the process.

"Wh-what are you doing? What happened?" Astrid flipped her visor back to cover her face. Also to hide her eyes that were wide with fear.

"There's a bomb. We have to get out."

Agent Gonzalez had already opened the door for them. He pushed Astrid from behind to head the group. "Get us out of here with that magical tablet of yours."

Astrid frantically flipped through settings and sprinted like her life depended on it, because it did. "Two more of those fork hallways and we should be heading back to the beginning of the Beta tunnels. How far away do we need to be from the bla-" Before Astrid could even finish her thought, she made contact with the rumbling floor.

"Perhaps your 'sight' of yours has been overestimated and overvalued, but no matter; you have survived this long. I am confident in your strength, Miss Dunham. And I am confident that you will deliver and behave." Jones flicked away the matter with his scarred hand. "You presented yourself and saved us quite a number of resources. Soon, we'll be out of this Foundation, which I can only assume has mistreated you." He shook his head at the state of Olivia's appearance, "Gaunt and haggard is no way to treat The Future, don't you agree? Here you were locked away in cells, but with us you'll be treated fairly, equally. Instead of rations three times a day, shoved through a series of compartments before it gets to you, you'll be served real meals – in front of your new comrades. We are a family that welcomes in our residents. You can bathe; you can breathe; you are free."

But it was Olivia's turn to let out a dry and airy laugh. It had taken her quite some time to come to terms that this wasn't the Jones that she was so familiar with, but now she was finally grounded once more. And she realized that she could use their mix-up to her advantage. The playing field was level – neither party knew anything about the other, with Jones having so much more to lose. "And here I was thinking that you liked me, Jones."

"Why of course I do, Miss Dunham. What gives you the impression that I do not?" It actually pained Jones to wear a furrowed brow; his scarred skin wasn't meant to fold that way anymore.

"You might be able to delude the rest of your prizes with that sort of talk, but you and I both know that we'll be facing much of the same." Olivia looked around to all of the masked soldiers. "You and the Foundation are so very much alike." Perhaps if Olivia stalled for something – anything – they'd have a better shot of getting out of there. Truthfully, she had nothing to lose in her attempt at ruffling Jones' feathers. And plus, she wanted to know the limits of Jones' patience – playfully, of course. It was always a game between the two of them. Or again, that's how it used to be.

He advanced toward her. Nick winced and stepped forward, only to draw the attention of the many guards, who simultaneously pointed their guns at Nick's head. A multitude of red dots speckled Nick's forehead, throat, and chest.

Jones frowned at this response, and raised a burnt hand once more. "I must apologize for their eagerness, Miss Dunham, Mr. Lane. This is a first for many of the men you see before you. It's a blessing, and a curse." Jones stepped all the more closer to her. He was about to place a hand on her shoulder, but decided against it. "Like you said – I just want a civil chat. However, it's time that I surprised you with a few insights of my own."

"Oh?" And it was Olivia's turn to throw him an amused, but skeptical, look in his direction.

"Even if your knowledge about me is incorrect, you are still the most powerful entity in this Foundation's possession."

"And why is that?" Olivia's heart was beating in her throat, making it hard for her to swallow.

Jones' white ridged lips turned into a sickening smile, "You're going to help us cross between worlds – something the Foundation has never done, and will never do. You saw all those egos clashing against each other, didn't you? They always cloud the real goal, the real prize. And we shall exploit the Foundation's weakness, together, Olivia – and with you too, Nick. You can get revenge on the people who plucked you from that busy street. You can get revenge on the people who poked and prodded, but were too daft to see what they should really be looking for. I can give you that."

Olivia could feel Nick stirring behind her. 'Don't listen to him. It's a trap. It's always a trap with this man.'

But Nick wasn't listening to her. Nick saw the man who had given him counsel back in their universe, the man with the outstretched arm and a twisted smile. Nick knew that he shouldn't trust this man, but… he had seen this play out before. And he certainly wanted revenge on those sick Foundation fucks for making Olivia scream. For bringing him to the edge of death and never finishing things. For pumping that disgusting orange gas and fluid into his nostrils and veins. He had killed so many already, why should he stop? Why should Olivia stop? Especially when she had killed more SCP personnel than he ever could.

But she leaned in further to him and whispered, "This would never be about me and my revenge. This is only about you and your quest for power."

"Actually, it's chaos. And I expected more cooperation on your end, Olivia Dunham."

Astrid knew that it was irrational. But she had to go back to them. She had to go back.

The world was a blur, rushing around her visor. Agent Gonzalez's pleas for her to stop, that she was being ludicrous, that she was going to get herself killed, whizzed past her.

She ran and ran and ran, until the rubble blocked her. But underneath the rubble, she saw faint traces of blood. That started to get larger and larger. Soon the traces were pools. Soon it all was red.

She collapsed to her knees and grabbed her head. She wasn't prepared for this. All the training in the world, and here she was shutting down? She was ashamed.

Agent Gonzalez had finally caught up to her, with Agent Lee running close behind, his visor drawn up and looking at Astrid in a mixture of sympathy and frustration.

Agent Gonzalez approached her with fists clenched, ready to strike her or the rubble next to her, but he lowered them and loosened his grip. And kneeled down next to her.

Astrid kept shaking her head, grabbing her head, "M-my double said it was inevitable to lose people. And of course it is. And she quoted me the odds and all the different outcomes… how many people could be lost… how many maximum could be lost… but…" She pulled her visor up and shut her eyes tight, "They didn't even see it coming. And I couldn't save them. I couldn't help them. I…"

Agent Gonzalez took her into his arms, and rocked with her back and forth. But he looked back at Agent Lee and mouthed, 'Call it in.'

Agent Lee nodded and touched his visor, "Agent Dunham? Agent Dunham? This is Agent Lee and the remainder of the Delta team. Over."

"I read you. What do you mean by the remainder? Over."

"We lost the observing station, and we lost Agents Park and Sanders. It was an agent from the third group. We took care of him. We're making our way to the Beta team. Over."

"… I'm sorry to hear that, and I'm sorry for your losses. How is everyone? Over."

Agent Lee looked at Astrid picking herself up. She was much paler than she had been moments ago, but she would manage.

"We'll be alright. Over."

Olivia, Aruna, and their teams moved into another red hallway, with the locking / unlocking mechanism midway through the structure. Olivia's heart always skipped a beat when she rounded the corner; she kept expecting a person to be blocking the button on the other side. But so far, no one.

She motioned for her people to stop. "Do you see that with your thermal vision?" Olivia looked back at her squads. "Do you all see that cluster of people, possibly 50 strong? With the two figures stationed in the middle?" They answered her with nods. "Good." She motioned for them to come to a halt completely.

Olivia swore under her breath. Ideally, Astrid and her team would have held the station long enough for them to engage those who had Olivia and Nick. As advanced as their visor technology was, she couldn't tell if the surrounding cameras were still connected to the Foundation – or if this group had surveillance technology of their own that would alert the enemy of their presence. Ideally, Astrid would be able to do reconnaissance and create the necessary diversions. But Olivia couldn't dwell on the possibilities; she had to deal with the situation at hand now.

But she would be lying if she said it didn't weigh on her. The further they moved into the complex, the more Olivia doubted their success. Astrid's numbers kept burrowing their way into her mind, polluting her once gleaming confidence with doubt. And what was worse was the additional variable – this new organization with her double and Nick in their possession.

But she couldn't let her team see that this had shaken her. She couldn't let the team know that her stomach had dropped into what felt like her feet. She couldn't let them know that she was terrified. Suddenly, she felt herself turning into Astrid, calculating their chances and coming up with... odds that did not favor them in the slightest.

But they were depending on her to be confident. They were depending on her to be fearless. They were depending on her to be who she always was – Agent Dunham, the flawless woman who never missed, never flinched, and never wavered. She didn't feel like she could be those things. She feared she wouldn't be able to live up to her own reputation… and she feared that everyone would die as a result.

Fortunately, Aruna took control. She addressed the squads in a calm and collected voice, something that Olivia could not muster. "There seems to be a few levels above where they are, with places in the vents for four snipers, one at each corner, to fire. I will lead the Alpha team to the levels above, where we will make a way for the Omega team to safely secure the targets and move out with as little casualties as possible. Agent Dunham, do you agree with this course of action?"

But Olivia was still lost in her own thoughts, looking at the two dots flashing before her. Aruna's words shot right past her, unable to be registered. She touched her visor and magnified the image in front of her. She confirmed her double, along with Nick. She zoomed in even closer and gasped at her double's frailer body. Her fists clenched as a snake of a man, likely the head of that other group, made his way closer and closer to her. When their noses were almost touching, chills went up Olivia's spine. Even though those around them had their weapons lowered, even though it seemed like her double had things under control, she wasn't sure how long the peace would last.

Olivia flipped her visor up and spun around to Aruna and the two groups. "Aruna, I want you to be one of the four snipers."

Aruna flipped hers up in shock. "Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather me direct them from the second floor?"

"No. Like you said, we need to safely secure the targets and move out with as little casualties as possible. You're the best shot we have here, second only to me. Our best chance of success is with you making as many head-shots as possible." Aruna's face was skeptical; Olivia certainly knew the feeling, and the odds. But she assured her second in command, "I believe in you. And I believe that the Alpha and Delta teams would agree with this decision." Again, they answered her with their nods. "Agent Crawford?"

A tall individual in the back stepped forward. "Yes, Agent Dunham?"

Olivia pulled out a metallic square from one of the pouches in her pants. She set it on the floor and flicked it. Red lines, like lasers, scanned the hallway and the adjoining spaces, stretching to one hundred feet. When it finished scanning, a 3D model visualized in front of them, bright blue. Olivia flicked the graphics until she reached Nick and Olivia, as well as the agents keeping them in their custody. "As we approach the space with the targets, we reach a hallway that forks here and here." She pointed to the fork. "The right will lead you to a series of hallways approaching the second floor and its vents above. The snipers will weld their way into the vents at the pass here, while those stationed on the second floor will double back through these doors and weld their way to this supply room, where they will wait for Aruna's mark." Olivia flicked to the supply closet. "This is a very tight space, which may prove difficult. If you can, move your way to the walled balcony. At present time, eight agents are patrolling that area. If you can take them out stealthily, and ideally simultaneously, do it." She flicked to the vents. "It will take a while for each vent-sniper to get into position. So those who are going to the balcony will stay behind at this pass," she pointed to it, "until Aruna says that they are in position." Olivia flicked back to their present location. "The Omega team, headed by me, will say behind at the initial fork until the Alpha team settles into position. When Aruna gives the signal for the four to begin sniping, as well as the balcony team to take their position, we will move down the fork to the main doors into the space. By that time, hopefully the sniper team has taken out most of their forces. However, if the enemy agents start to move the targets before the Omega team has reached, the Alpha team members stationed on the balcony have permission to engage those bellow in attempt to take the targets. However, this will be very dangerous and should only be attempted if… absolutely necessary." She looked up, "Agent Crawford, I specifically want you to coordinate the Alpha team as Agent Aruna gets into position at the furthest corner. I have every confidence in your abilities."

Agent Crawford nodded, "Thank you. I won't fail you, Agent Dunham."

"Ready your weapons. We move in two minutes."

Olivia inhaled, exhaled, and pulled her visor down. After her speech, she didn't care that the odds were stacked against them; they would succeed. Her double had survived for this long, without any weapons save her mind. They would pull through for her. She would pull through for her.

'I have every confidence in your abilities,' she repeated to herself. 'I have every confidence in your abilities.'