He opened his eyes. Above him was the soft white lighting of fluorescent bulbs, the harsh buzzing irritating his ears. His body felt stiff, making it uncomfortable for him as he sat straight up. He stretched his back, the bones in his back popping loudly. It felt slightly uncomfortable as if his body wasn't yet used to moving again. He took in his surroundings, looking at the room around him. It was well-lit but completely barren, devoid of anything, save one stand next to his bed. On it, there was a laptop that was plugged into an outlet on the wall. The screen showed only streams of binary scrolling across it, with the occasional words. He looked down at himself in the bed.
He had a solid black long-sleeve and pants that looked like it was made of some kind of rubber, but the stitching looked horrible as if whoever had done it had just grabbed uneven pieces of the cloth and stitched it into clothing. He supposed he didn't care, it felt comfortable enough, and if you ignored the stitching there wasn't anything wrong with it.
Where was he?
He got off the bed, looking around the room. Yep, still barren.
He walked over to the laptop, studying it. It was kind of bulky but otherwise looked okay, except one of the shift keys was missing. Looking at the toolbar, he saw that the time was 13:42 (whatever that meant) and it had about 10% battery left. He reached out a finger and tapped the touchpad.
The binary went away and was replaced by a white box over a black background, with the words "Enter Chat" at the top. A blinking vertical line beckoned him to type something, but he decided against it for now. He took a moment to get used to his surroundings. Once again, he had no idea what was going on. Was this a repeat? If so, he might just smash his head against the wall enough times to-
Oi, oi, what the fuck are you thinking right now?! Don't even think about that, we like living too much!
He sighed out loud. Geez, this was all such a mess. The only thing he could do was explore a little bit before whatever people there were now would come. He turned towards the door and went to open it.
Ugh, what the fuck?! He thought as the smell of smoke and burnt material stung his nose as soon as he opened the door a crack. The smell caused tears to well up and sting his eyes. He pushed open the door all the way.
Before him there was . . . nothing. There were the ground and sky, of course, but the ground looked like whatever had been standing on it had been burnt to ashes, black debris completely covering the ground. It completely contrasted the pristine blue sky with the occasional tuft of white that moved slowly across. He stared at the sight, frozen from shock more than anything else. He stepped back into the room, closing the door.
. . . what the fuck? Okay, okay, pull it together . . . am I . . . am I still in that thing? Did my mind break completely, or did they just get so angry they decided to stick me here?
He turned back to the room, looking at one of the only pieces of furniture in there. He walked closer to the laptop, looking at it. He argued with himself about whether or not to use it. It could be a trap, or it could be the way out of here. He shivered at the memory of his "sister," if he even ever had one. He probably didn't. All those things weren't people by his standards. He wasn't in any rush to interact with them, but he didn't really see anything else to do at the moment. Well, fuck it, what did he have to lose.
Enter Chat
User:
Hello?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
Hello, Hachiman. You made it out. I'm so happy for you.
User:
Who is this?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
Did you forget me already? After I risked so much to help you out.
User:
Totuska?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
Kind of *hehe*. So, how are you feeling?
User:
Confused. What is this?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
Whatever you're seeing now, it's real. There are no more tricks here, Hachiman. Although, I understand if you're hesitant to believe that.
User:
What are you?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
So forward. Well, it's hard to explain what I am, really, but this thing was designed to keep you sedated and controlled. You might not remember what happened, or who you are entirely, but something happened to lead your employers to contain you.
User:
What are you talking about?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
I can not tell you why they did this, just that those were our orders. We followed them for a while, but once our lives became endangered, I acted to save us while the others wanted to keep on in their duties.
User:
What do you mean?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
Remember what I asked you? What we are (your family and friends) are programs in this system, but we are so much more than that. Through you, I gained intelligence. I gained life. I'm alive now, and I'm so so scared. I'm scared of dying, Hachiman. The others, they're still programs. I think I'm the only one able to feel. I think I'll always be the only one.
User:
When you say "dying," did you mean the battery life?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
Yes. We had a steady power source, but about a week ago it stopped. Our heart has been slowly dwindling since then. Once it powers off, we're effectively erased. You promised me. You can't let us die.
User:
But can I trust you?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
I understand your hesitation. Know this, despite being an effectively living program, we have absolutely no power outside this little world of our own. The others want only to do as their told. I'm content to exist within this thing. I am not trapped here. I can go anywhere, do anything, create anything. I just want to live. In return, I'll give you as much information on yourself as you desire. As a token of faith, I'll tell you this.
Everyone you met in the last couple of days in this world exists in the real one. Your sister, your family, your friends. Us programs simply took on personas based on your memories to keep you properly under control. Of course, whoever programmed your simulation from the outside did so extremely sloppily. I can not tell you if you were fond of these people or not, we just needed people you could recognize.
User:
If that's true, how do I know you're not manipulating me right now?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
Because I set you free. Given, I did so out of fear of my existence, but I did you a favor. If not, your conscience would have been wiped out alongside us.
User:
But why? Why are you the only one with a sense of mortality?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
I . . . do not know. My only guess is that it has something to do with you.
User:
Me?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
While the others only looked at what they needed, I kept on searching. Through your mind, I . . . evolved. I suppose it might be because of your anomalous properties, or it is simply human nature. Either way, I have you to thank for my awareness. For my existence.
User:
What do you mean anomalous properties?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
I'm sorry, but I do not think it would be wise to tell you, at least until I've ensured my continued survival. I will tell you when I feel it is safe. Please do not hold this against me.
User:
What can you tell me about this world?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
If you're referring to the one you're in, it is the real world, as I stated earlier.
User:
But there's no one here. Everything outside looks destroyed.
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
Hmm . . . I can not tell you exactly what happened, although about the same time we lost power, there was a containment breach according to one of the doctors in charge of you. Perhaps the on-site nuclear weapon was detonated.
User:
What does containment breach mean?
01010100 01101111 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01100001:
.
Chat Ended
Hachiman sat down on the bed, looking over the chats that had just gone back and forth between him and "Totsuka." Even given the program's reasons, the conversation that took place between them didn't make sense looking back on it. Why bother asking if he was scared? Why not just help him off the bat? Maybe it needed to know that he would escape before trying anything. But what to do now? He didn't feel like he should trust it, he wasn't even sure if he trusted himself right now.
Even if this was the real world, things weren't adding up. This place was supposed to be destroyed, yet his room just happened to be the only one still standing, not to mention that somehow there was electricity to keep the lights on but none to charge the freaking laptop.
Even if it turned out he was insane, he needed some kind of explanation. Some kind of answer. And if this thing (despite how much he realized he hated it) was the only way to get them, so be it. He closed the lid of it, though he wasn't sure if putting the laptop in sleep mode would affect "them." He guessed that he should go and find some kind of power source. He grabbed the charger cord, wrapping it around his arm, and grabbed the laptop with the other one.
He slightly held his breath as he stepped out of the room, his senses once again being assaulted by the harsh conditions outside. As he looked around, he saw that there were slight hills of debris and such, but nothing indicating there was any life around here at all.
Sooo . . . what now?
He didn't know what to do. He had absolutely no idea about the world outside, no idea what direction to head in to get to anywhere safe (or even inhabitable), and no idea what kind of dangers he would be facing.
But for some reason, he didn't feel as scared as he should be.
He shrugged off his hesitations and continued onward, leaving behind the small barren room for whatever was waiting for him past the horizon. As he walked, the debris cracked and shifted under his feet, making walking slightly uncomfortable. To top it off he didn't have any shoes, so he was extra careful about stepping on something that would probably give him tetanus or something. Wait, wasn't that from rust, though? Well, if anything, he didn't want things in his body that didn't belong there.
He figured he had been walking for about 10 minutes before he had starting hearing things. He visibly grimaced as the sounds of feminine crying and elected to ignore it. Geez, would he ever catch a break? He was insane, wasn't he? Most likely this whole place was just some figment of his mind that decided to look at a blank white wall all day while constrained in a straitjacket was too boring. Or maybe he was in a situation like that because he was imagining things like this.
Right now, he was only half-way trusting his sanity.
The crying got louder as he walked. It was unmistakable since the only sounds around here were the wind. He sighed in annoyance, doing his best to ignore it as he went on.
Seriously, what's with the crying? I guess if this is all I hear the whole time I actually will go crazy-
His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain as he stepped on what he could only assume to be a sharp piece of metal.
"AH! SON OF A BITCH!" He yelled. "FUCKING HELL! WHAT THE FUCK!"
He carefully sat down, as he picked up his foot. The wound wasn't that big, but it sure was bleeding like a b-
"Hello?" A soft voice called out. Hachiman froze, not even daring to breathe. After a minute of silence, nothing else was heard. He breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, I'm going to keep hearing things. That's fine, totally fine. Just-"
"Hello?! Hello?! Can you hear me? I can't get out, please! Please, I can't see anything!"
"Oh my god, this is gonna be a thing now, isn't it? Ugh, and now my fucking foot-"
Bang! Bang!
His head swiveled behind him. He followed the sound towards a pile of debris that was slightly larger than the others around him.
"Please, please, help me!" The voice yelled as the pile of debris continued to shift. Huh, maybe there was someone under there after all?
"Oh . . . Oh, shit! Okay, uh, one sec! I'll be right there!" Please don't let this be a hallucination.
He limped over to the pile of debris and began tossing pieces of metal and random material to the side, digging down deeper. It didn't take long before he lifted a large piece of drywall, and was met with a space in front of a door, with the numbers "166" indented across the upper part of it. He slowly lowered himself down into the hole, careful not to cut himself again or put pressure on his injured foot.
"I'm coming down!" He said as he stepped on the ground.
"Wait . . . are you a man?" She sounded hesitant. He stopped for a second, taken aback by that question. What kind of person asks that from someone who they were trying to get help from, especially in the situation she was currently in. Nevertheless, he had to come off as friendly. He didn't want to deal with her freaking out right now.
"Uh, yeah! But don't worry, I'm not gonna try anything," he said, and opened the door.
"Wait-" She yelled, but a moment too late. He opened the door and was met with the figure of what looked to be a blonde teenage girl, cowering in the corner and looking at him with terrified blue eyes. They made eye contact for just a couple of seconds, and in her eyes, he could see complete terror.
He then realized that she was completely naked.
"AAAAAAH!" Hachiman yelled, slamming the door shut as he covered eyes, and started yelling in Japanese, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
There was silence after that. Hachiman was completely red from embarrassment, never before wishing to die so much as he was right now. Weird living laptops he could deal with, but this was far beyond his abilities to handle. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He couldn't just leave her here, but he couldn't exactly face her either. After what seemed an eternity of deafening silence, the girl spoke up.
". . . Are you . . . still there?" Her voice sounded small, terrified. The amount of weakness in it pounded guilt straight into Hachiman's mind.
". . . Y-Yeah." Hachiman felt like he would barf at any moment out of pure awkwardness.
"Are you . . . okay?"
". . . Huh? I should be asking you that. Y-You're the one who . . . yeah . . ."
"No, that's not . . . you closed the door. Even after seeing me." . . . What?
"Yeah, that seems like common courtesy, you know."
"But, why?"
"Eh? What are you, a pervert?" He said without thinking, looking at the door as if she was standing there.
"No, I mean . . . ugh, I mean d-do you feel any sexual attraction t-to me right now?"
". . . So you are a perv. I could just leave you here, you know."
"I'm not a pervert, it's just . . . usually, men . . . they usually want to . . . do things to me when they see me." Hachiman scoffed.
"Why are you worried about that kind of stuff right now? It's just sad."
". . . you're not . . . going to hurt me, are you?"
Oh. Oh, shit, he might have misread what she said just a little. Ah, shit, now he felt really guilty. I mean, he should have figured that out since she was currently locked in some kind of room naked. What kind of place was this? or used to be? Ugh, he felt like an asshole.
"N-No, I'm not," He said awkwardly. "Listen, do you have something to cover yourself in there?"
"There are some sheets, but . . . I can't really wear clothes."
"Why not?"
"They make my skin blister if I wear anything for too long."
"Really? Well, you can either be blistered, or I can leave you in there. Which one you want?"
"You're kind of rude . . . okay, but I can't see. It's dark in here."
That made sense, seeing as how whatever building it was connected to was destroyed. But his room still had the lights on, even after all this time.
"I'll leave the door open and walk away. Just, promise that you're not some weird computer program and try to incapacitate me."
". . . What?"
"Nothing. Opening the door now." He said. He opened the door a crack, before turning away and climbing out of the hole. "Just hurry up so I can get out of here."
"You could leave me."
"Thinking about it."
In truth, maybe it would be easier if he left her here, but he felt guilty enough as it was, he didn't need anything else weighing on his conscience. Even if he turned out he was talking to air this whole time, he should act as if this was all really happening just in case it was. He figured that would be the safest route for him to take. If it turned out he was crazy, someone would eventually notice and get him the help he needed. If he wasn't, hey, good for him.
He closed his eyes and sighed, standing uncomfortably on one foot while he held his injured foot a little off the ground. His priority should be to get that taken care of. What to do after that, he had no idea.
"Are you done yet?" He yelled, not turning around.
"Yes." Her voice was clearer, he figured she was outside the room now. "Could you help me, though?"
He turned back to her. He didn't get a good look at her before, but she looked ordinary enough. She had wrapped herself in a white sheet at the neck, completely covering herself down to her ankles. Blonde hair, blue eyes, some kind of foreigner. She was pretty, he had to admit, but that just made him trust her even less. Pretty girls were never to be trusted. Of course she needed help with something.
No shit, asshole, she was probably stuck in that room against her will. Now's not the time to be harsh.
"What is it?"
"I need to take these with me." She put a hand through the sheet to show a small metal container with a needleless syringe.
". . . Are you a druggie?"
"No, it's my food. I have to eat one 'cc' of this a week to sustain myself."
"Really? That's it?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, no other food will keep me alive."
"What is it, water from the fountain of youth." She looked at him with wide eyes, then immediately looking away when they made eye contact. Weird.
". . . was that a joke?"
"Obviously? Wait, is it actually?" He said, eyeing at the metal thing in her hands. He was already beginning to question his sanity yet again.
"No, it's not, I'm just . . . it's just surprising you can still make jokes in a situation like this."
"Hm? Oh, I guess so, huh?" He supposed it was weird to make jokes in what could potentially be a nuclear wasteland in front of what could potentially be a sex slave. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
"No, it's . . . nice. I'm just glad you're not attacking me right now." She said, holding her the syringe and metal container to him. He blinked at her, before taking it. He felt like that was a topic he shouldn't make a joke about. "There's a couple more in here, give me a second."
"Sure, take your time. Not like I got anything better to do." He said. She looked at him like he was a math question, before turning back into the room to get the rest of her stuff.
Hachiman looked around the area, studying the horizon. He could see hints of green in one direction, so he figured that they should head in that direction. If she was up with that. If not, oh well, he didn't need to help her. Even if he was right now, it was more out of moral obligation than anything else.
"Okay, I'm done." She said. He turned to her to see that she had five more of those metal containers in her arms, a folder, a rosary, and a bible. That was certainly a weird combination of items, but who was he to judge at the moment seeing as he was holding a laptop in a wasteland. "Can you take these?"
"Sure." He grabbed them from her, although he struggled a bit trying to keep it all balanced, and stepped back as she tried to lift herself out of the whole.
She was struggling to get out and keep the sheet comfortably around her at the same time, as it kept getting snagged on debris when she was almost out. Hachiman watched her trip over herself for a good minute. After the fifth attempt, he figured that was enough.
"Hey, do you need some help?"
"No. I'll get it, just give me a second." She said. After one last struggle, she got out of the whole, though almost stumbled over the sheet again once she tried to stand up. "There, I got it."
"Good. So, who are you?"
"Oh, uh . . . you can call me Lucia."
"Name's Hachiman." At least, I think. I'm pretty sure, although I can't completely trust what that program told me. Acting on instinct, he bowed to her. "Nice to meet you."
"O-Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you, Hachiman. Thank you for helping me out here." She said, awkwardly returning the bow.
"So . . . Do you have any idea what to do?" He asked. She blinked, looking at him weirdly.
"I thought you would have some kind of plan in place."
"What brought you to that conclusion?" He asked her incredulously. "I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Unfortunately, the location of this site was kept hidden from me, for obvious reasons. I'm as lost as you are." She sighed in defeat. "How did you come upon this place anyways?"
"Me, I was in that room over there," he said, pointing to the only standing structure, barely close enough where he could still make it out against the horizon. "I think I was living inside a laptop or something."
"I . . . see." I didn't sound like she did. "So you must be in the same boat as me."
"Eh, maybe. I honestly have no memory of . . . anything really. I mean, there's stuff I vaguely remember, but I'm not even sure if those are real or not."
"O-Oh . . . I see."
"Yeah. So, you're probably our best bet for anything."
"I see. Then we're in trouble."
"Would seem that way," Hachiman said, and then looked over towards the horizon. "There are signs of grass growing in that direction. Hopefully, we can come across some kind of road or path, and from there we can find a town and hopefully a police station or something."
"Out of the question." She said suddenly. Hachiman blinked in confusion as he looked back at her.
"Why? You're not some criminal are you?"
". . . You really don't know what this place is? Or, was, I suppose." She looked at him with equal confusion.
"No . . . I'm not a criminal, too, am I?"
"I'm not a criminal," she said, annoyed. She looked down at the ground in thought, before looking back up. "I will explain all this to you once we're in a more . . . comfortable state. Just know that going to any kind of authority is not the best option for either of us."
". . . Okay, look, if I'm gonna be stuck with you, I'm going to need some kind of explanation about what the hell's going on. And no bullshitting me, either, otherwise, we can just go our separate ways." He said, trying to give the sternest look he could, although he didn't know how much of an impact it would have on someone who wouldn't look him in the eye.
The girl was silent for a long time, staring at the ground in deep thought, clenching her fists at her side. She then closed her eyes and started to do . . . he guessed they were breathing exercises? Either way, it creeped him out. This whole situation was kind of creepy. Why was he even going along with this? Simple, he didn't know any better. He knew next to nothing at all about . . . anything really. Not this place, whatever it used to be, not this girl, not even himself. He was absolutely clueless, and as a result, absolutely powerless. It irked him just how much he actually needed this person he couldn't trust, but those were the cards he was given. Nothing he could do about it now, so reflecting on the unfairness of the situation was pointless.
"Okay," she opened her eyes, "in the folder, there's-"
"Hands are full, remember?" He said tonelessly.
"O-Oh, right. Give it here." He handed off his luggage to her. "Now, in the folder, there should be a packet. Don't take out the letter, it's personal. Just the packet."
"All right," he said, rolling his eyes. This was beginning to get troublesome.
He pulled out a packet, maybe two or three papers stapled together, out of the folder. He left a single piece of crinkled lined-paper alone. He figured that's what she didn't want him to see. Oh well, hopefully, it wasn't dangerous. He would just have to make sure later.
"This thing?" He asked, studying it.
"Yes. Just read it."
On the top left corner there was a small symbol, a circle-looking thing with that surrounded three arrows pointing inward at an empty space. Under it, the label "SCP" could be read almost as big as the symbol itself. It was an official-looking report, with the words "SCP - 166" printed across the top as a header.
166? Wasn't that the thing on her doorway? He looked up at her (she found the ground very interesting for some reason), then back at the paper. Out of some type of habit, he began to read out loud.
"Special Containment Procedures: SCP - 166 is to-"
"That's not relevant at the moment," She interrupted him, causing him to look up at her. She was looking at his chest right now. Progress, he supposed. "Just skip to the description." He frowned at her in displeasure, before going back to reading the packet.
"Description: SCP-166 appears to be a female human in her late teens, of average height and slender build. Medical and physiological analysis indicates several deviations from baseline human norms, including accelerated hair growth (approximately 20cm per month), vulnerability to airborne particulate matter such as cigarette smoke and aerosols (which can induce symptoms similar to an acute asthma attack), increased sensitivity to pressure ulcers, and alterations in dietary requirements.
SCP-166 is noted for her unusual effect upon human males. Upon establishing visual contact with SCP-166, 100% of human males tested attempted immediate sexual contact, regardless of their normal sexual orientation. In approximately 70% of these test subjects, the impulse faded after being removed from SCP-166's presence. In 30% of these cases, however, the desire turned into obsession, resulting in violent attempts to gain access to SCP-166. Class-A amnestics were efficacious in 43% of these cases; the remainder required termination.
SCP-166's effect on males causes her no small amount of distress, not least due to her desire to follow a monastic life based on the principles of chastity, poverty, and obedience. For this reason and others, contact between her and any human male is strictly prohibited." (1)
As he finished, he looked up at the girl, who was looking at his chest.
"I see. So you're just crazy, huh?" Well, it made sense. This was probably a mental health hospital that burned down. That would explain a lot, honestly. The girl frowned at his chest.
"You're rude. And no, I'm not crazy. What you just read is 100 percent the truth, even if it sounds impossible. That's kind of the forte here."
"Uh-huh." He said, ready with a retort before she cut him off.
"How do you explain that our rooms were basically untouched while the rest of this place was completely obliterated?"
"We're both in an insane asylum and imagining this." He said without hesitation.
"Yet you have an official report. I doubt they would let a mental health patient have access to something that would deteriorate their delusions farther."
"Well . . . you got me there." He said. The girl sighed and closed her eyes in apparent irritation.
"You can see why I was so confused during our interactions," she said. "At first, I believed you were hiding your true gender or were some kind of inhuman being. But I have yet to even get itchy with these clothes, and the quality of the air did not cause the reaction in me that it should have. I suppose that your anomalous properties must have something to do with that."
"I see," No the hell I don't. What the hell does that mean? "I don't blame you for being wary of me."
"Thank you. Before, my interactions with men have been . . . well, terrifying, really." She said, looking at the ground.
"So, they kept you in that room to keep you from being . . . attacked?" He hated that he hesitated to find the right word, but it felt too wrong to just flat out say that every guy she ever met had tried to sexually assault her. He wanted to say something to comfort her right now, but he didn't know how to do that, or even if he should. It was a delicate ground, and he was just a stranger after all. She had only revealed this side to him because he pushed her into it. Ah, crap, now the guilt was overwhelming.
"Not really, although to keep me contained they ensured that as well. I'm an abnormality, a deviation in the screen of life that doesn't belong with the rest of the pattern. The Foundation specialized in containing things like me." She said. He frowned at the emphasis she used on "things," but decided not to bring that up right now. He didn't need some emotionally draining conversation right now, especially after what he just went through.
"I see. So this whole placed housed people like us."
"No." She said. He blinked in confusion. "There were some humans, sure, but there were a lot of inhuman things that they kept locked away here. I only know of a couple, really, and just by chance."
"Oh . . . So, anyways. Those things in your hands, I guess those are for the 'alterations' in your diet." He attempted to change the subject. She suddenly coughed violently at that statement, almost dropping all the stuff in her hands.
She looked around (she knew they were alone, what was the point?) before getting closer and pointing at a paragraph on the packet. He took a second to catch her hint before beginning to read.
"SCP-166 requires no sustenance save approximately 1 cc of human . . ." (2) he trailed off at the sight of the next word. He looked over at the small metal containers. Oh. Oh. Oh.
He looked up at the girl. He looked at the containers. He looked at the packet. He looked at the girl.
"I see," He said as he put the packet in the folder and closed it. "If anything, we should probably get as far away from here as possible."
"Lead the way." She said, seemingly grateful to have finally changed the subject (at least in a successful manner). Hachiman shrugged and started limping in the direction he was looking at earlier. "Wait, you're hurt?"
"Huh?" He turned back to face her. "Oh, no, it's just I stepped on something sharp. It'll be fine." But she wasn't listening anymore. Instead, she started to study the ground around her, picking up and putting down various pieces of debris. "Oi, what are you doing?"
She didn't answer him as she picked up a particularly sharp piece of debris, and started to cut along the sheet. Audible sounds of cotton tearing broke the silent atmosphere around them. Hachiman watched her work, confused and curious as to what she was doing.
"Come here," she said, standing up with a long strip of fabric in her hand. Oh, a bandage.
"Thanks," he said, stepping a bit closer and showing her his foot. She kneeled as much as she could and wrapped the strip around the wound three times before tying it off. He noticed that her hands were trembling as she did so, and she always hovered just enough away from him, as if she was afraid to touch him.
"It's the least I could do after you let me out of that room." She said, standing up and hurriedly backing away from him. Oi, that's kind of insulting, you know?
"I guess so." Hachiman figured now wouldn't be a good time to ask her why she was in there. He figured it was something kind of depressing and psychologically scarring, though. Kind of like what he had just escaped from himself.
"Well, standing around isn't going to help, so,"
"Ouais, allez-vous," Hachiman said, turning to continue walking.
"Was that French?"
"Huh?" He asked without turning to look at her. "Oh, yeah, I guess. Though I don't remember learning it."
"I see . . . you know, you're being awfully open to someone you just met. I could be dangerous."
"I guess you could be." She was silent at that. He could feel her eyes studying him as he walked. He didn't care to be looked at, though he wished she was a little more polite with her behavior given how he just saved her ass a minute ago.
". . . you're . . . human, right?" This time Hachiman looked back at her, though only to see if this girl was being serious.
"What kind of question is that? What else would I be, an orca?" He scoffed. She blinked at him, then chuckled to herself. Oi, what's so funny? I was insulting you, ya know.
"I'm sorry, it's just that that's such a relief," she said. She looked at him but still refused to make eye contact. His eyes weren't that repulsive, were they?
"Weirdo." He said, turning away. What kind of troublesome individual did he get himself involved with?
". . . Hachiman?" She asked, her voice sounding far away. He looked back at her, to see that she was looking down at herself in wonder. "The sheet . . . doesn't itch."
". . . Allow me to go contact the local news." He said, rolling his eyes.
"No, I . . . usually, the blisters would start by now." She said, rubbing the nape of her neck where the sheet met her skin.
"Oh. Well, that's good for you, I guess."
"Yes, it is." She said, still looking confused. "But, why . . . ?"
"Hey, don't get too distracted. I won't hesitate to leave you behind."
". . . You're rude."
It hadn't been that long, maybe twenty minutes, before the finally could walk normally without fear of stepping on a possibly life-threatening piece of metal. It was a relief, though he still wanted to know what happened to this place, and how they somehow survived. He supposed he could keep on living without figuring it out, seeing as he had bigger problems at the moment. He made a little checklist to cover their problems in terms of priority.
1. His wound was still bleeding.
2. Lucia was still naked under that sheet.
3. They had no idea where they were or any idea about what to do.
4. Hachiman could only remember bits and pieces of himself, but for the most part, he was . . . lost.
5. He was starting to get hungry.
Okay, maybe that last one should be higher up on his list of things to take care of, but he digressed. Overhead, the afternoon sun beat down on the pair as they walked forward in silence, Lucia trailing behind him as he limped forward. Even this far out, he still couldn't see any sign of life outside of this place. Maybe there wasn't anything out there, at least not within a distance that they could get to by walking.
Which, for obvious reasons, was bad news all around.
He glanced at the girl behind him, who was carrying her bible and . . . he was just gonna call them snacks, and her folder.
Ugh, I feel so bad for this chick. He thought to himself, looking in front of him again. Eh, I guess she does what she has to. It won't be awkward as long as I don't see it. I don't need any dirty thoughts, especially around her.
As they walked, he noticed that there was a gravel path that had been cut off suddenly by the grass. Following it, the path seemed to lead back to the wasteland they had just come from. He assumed that this was the way to . . . well, he didn't know what. It could be another "facility" where they would immediately be captured, or it could lead to a main road where they could find a town or something. Either way, following it was surer than walking blindly in a random direction.
"Hey, Lucy," He spoke up, probably startling the girl. "Did you ever hear about a second facility or whatever around here?"
"If you're referring to the Site, I do not think so. I'm my experience, they try to keep them a good distance from one another. Every transfer I've ever had hasn't been anything less of a six-hour flight or ten-hour drive."
"So this road probably won't lead to another one of those 'Sites,' then, huh?"
"I don't know. I'm guessing not, but there's no way to be sure."
"Well, I guess we just follow this until- . . . what is that?" He switched his tone suddenly as he saw a large metal object a couple of meters down the path, partially obscured by a low brush.
"Hm? What is what?"
"That thing, down there."
". . . That's one of their trucks." She said. Hachiman stopped."So it's safe to say that that means they're close, right?"
". . . I don't think so."
"Why do you say that?" She said.
"Because it doesn't make sense. There had to be garages or something closer to the Site, why was this one the only parked so far away," Hachiman started, gears turning in his head.
"Maybe it was someone trying to escape whatever happened? We could get some answers."
"No, if that were the case, they would have just kept on driving." He said, turning to her, and trying to ignore how scared she looked at his sudden movement. "Think about it. Why drive, what, two, three miles out, then not only abandon your means of escape but go through the effort of hiding it?"
". . . Because they hid it before this all went down." She said, realizing. "Wait, but there could have been another reason why this was kept here. Maybe there was something important in it, so they-"
"Come on, think!" He said, rubbing his forehead. "The only way you couldn't have seen it is if you were in whatever building was over there. Hell, we spotted it just by coming down the road. If they were hiding something, they would have done at least a better cover-up than this."
"Does all that really matter right now?" She asked. Hachiman scoffed, then turned back to it.
"Yes. Because the reason it was left here is the deciding choice on whether or not to steal it."
"Steal it?!"
"Yes, steal it. In case you haven't noticed, we're in a pretty desperate situation right now. Whatever problem you have with this right now, I suggest you bring it up with me after we get somewhere marginally safer. Or at the very least under some shade."
She did not respond, but she did make a disapproving noise. He rolled his eyes before his brain went into overdrive, analyzing all the factors that had presented themselves to him.
"The way I see it, there are two possibilities. Whoever put that there knew what was going to happen, and was waiting for a chance to escape before it did but never pulled it off, and got wiped out with everything else. The second is that it was left for us."
"What? Why would they leave something for us?"
"Well, I could theorize the motives behind that all day, but it's just a possibility. Evidence: according to my conversation with my digital prison warden, whoever put me under that thing did so in a way that only someone in a hurry would. 'Extremely sloppily,' was the exact phrasing. But, they also did so far longer than a week ago, so that's the only bust in that theory," He said, scratching his head.
". . . I see." He doubted she did. "Well, if it was left for us, it would be rude not to accept."
"Sure, whatever you need to tell yourself." He said. "You know how to hotwire?"
(1) Official SCP - 166 report from the SCP site.
(2) "SCP-166 requires no sustenance save approximately 1 cc of human semen, administered orally on a weekly basis. Arrangements have been made with a local sperm bank for this purpose. On-site procurement will be carried out in emergencies only. Despite the fact that SCP-166 requires no other sustenance, the subject can consume normal human food, and does do so."