#Case File: Records on Research Subject S

[yuta-nakamots]

Nightwalker - Ten

Pairing - University!Ten x University!GN Reader

Genre(s) - Fluff, Angst, Action/Thriller, University!AU, Purge!AU

Warning(s) - Mention of death and killing (obviously. It’s the Purge), violence, blood, description of injuries, manipulation, mention of crime and trafficking and attempted murder.

Summary - In a city where, one night a year, crime is unleashed without consequence, graduate student and meticulous killer Ten is drawn into a dangerous game when you catch his attention. As shadows lengthen and rules dissolve, fates intertwine in a tense dance of control and survival. 

Word Count - 6.0k

Author’s Note - This was the toughest fic for me to write recently. Between researching and balancing the mood in each scene, I felt like I  was going insane lol

Taglist - @cinneorolls (join my taglist!)

Written for the Hide If You Can Collab originally hosted by @127-mile. 

Now playing: Nightwalker - Ten, Dangerous - Ten, Tilt - Irene & Seulgi

Once a year, for twelve hours starting at 7pm, all crime, including murder, is legal. The government refers to it as a civic release, a necessary purging of societal aggression to maintain order. But behind the propaganda, the truth festers. It’s a system designed by the elite to eliminate threats, erase debts, and settle scores without consequence. 

Ten Lee is a top graduate student in behavioral neuroscience, known for his groundbreaking work on psychopathy and emotional regulation. Officially, he studies the Purge. Unofficially, he participates in it precisely, cleanly, and efficiently. Not out of hatred or desperation, but curiosity, control, the pursuit of understanding the darkest corners of the human mind, starting with his own. 

He moved like he thought in layers, composed and always two steps ahead. On the surface, he was a model scholar and the youngest to assist on the university’s federally funded Purge Neurology Project. His specialty? Mapping the emotional regulation patterns of those who had killed and lived to tell about it. He called it “clinical curiosity.” Others called it brilliance. 

His lab was cold, sterile, lit in shades of white and blue that reminded him of hospitals or interrogation rooms. Each subject he analyzed, hooked up to wires and hearts thudding in remembered violence, gave him more data and clarity. He saw fear, rage, guilt, or the absence of all three. Patterns emerged. Disorders, too. 

But no one ever mapped his mind.

Late one evening, while Ten was cleaning data scans from that year’s volunteer pool, a request came in. It was unofficial, encrypted, and slipped through a private network that should have been scrubbed clean. A meeting, arranged by a high-level donor, with no names in the calendar. Ten went anyway. 

The man was old money. He wore grief like a badge, but power like armor. He didn’t cry when he spoke of his brother. “Killed in last year’s Purge,” he said. “A tragic accident. The girl walked free.”

Ten sat back, saying nothing. The man reached into a folder, pulled out a photo. You. More specifically, a scan of your university ID card. 

“You know how things work,” the man began. “Her file says it was mutual violence. The police report was clean. But I know she lured him out. I know she helped his ex set him up. He wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t deserve that kind of death.”

Ten studied the image. The card itself was newer than the case, meaning you were still enrolled, still walking the same halls. The donor pulled out more papers. Tuition payments, library records, previous class registrations, and academic history. Chemistry undergrad, average grades, quiet. 

“She destroyed our family…and no one paid the price.” The man slid an envelope forward. Inside was a transfer order. A clean purge clearance and a significant donation to Ten’s research, enough to secure tenure early, maybe even a private lab. “I don’t want to know how. I just want it done. Clean, quiet, the night of.” 

Ten didn’t take the envelope. But he didn’t push it back either. 

Later, alone in his room, Ten pulled up your student profile. You lived off-campus, alone. No family on file, no complaints, no infractions. On paper, you were nobody. But something didn’t add up. 

He dug deeper. That year’s Purge archives had been scrubbed, but he had access to supposedly locked repositories. Patterns emerged again. You were friends with a girl who had filed an abuse claim against the donor’s brother. The girl vanished that night, never confirmed dead. But you? You survived. 

There was footage of you being pulled from a half-burnt safehouse, blood in your hair and your eyes unfocused. It should have looked like trauma. But Ten paused the video.. 

You weren’t shaken. You were calm. Alert and watching. 

“You shouldn’t have survived,” he murmured, almost admiringly. 

And yet, you did. 

The next day, Ten’s eyes trailed you across campus for the first time, not as a curious researcher, but as a hunter. You were alone in a chemistry lab, methodically mixing compounds with a precision that echoed his own obsession with control. No fear, no hesitation. Just a quiet purpose. 

He approached casually, a slight smile resting on his lips like a mask. “You must be the elusive subject,” he greeted, voice smooth and disarming. “I’m Ten. Behavioral neuroscience graduate student.” 

You look up, steady and unreadable. “I’m just a chemistry student.”

“Right. But I’ve heard you have access to some…interesting substances,” he teased, watching for any flicker of reaction. 

You met his gaze evenly. “Science is about what you’re willing to handle.”

Ten liked that. Not scared, not apologetic. 

His eyes lingered on the way your fingers steadied the vial, the calm precision in your movements. “Why chemistry?” he asked, leaning against the counter. “Most people pick a major for jobs or prestige. What’s your story?”

You didn’t turn to him immediately, but when you did, your gaze was steady, challenging. “I like knowing how things fit together, breaking down chaos into patterns. It’s not so different from what you do, isn’t it?”

He raised an eyebrow, amused. “Maybe. But I work with brains, behaviors…emotions. Dangerous stuff.” 

You smirked, setting the vial down in a rack. “And what makes you so interested in danger?”

Ten smiled, a slow tilt that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Let’s just say I prefer to understand what others fear.” 

You cocked your head. “Sounds like you’re hiding something.”

“I might be.” His tone dropped, serious now. “But enough about me. What about you? What scares you?”

You shrugged, indifferent. “Not much. Fear’s overrated.” 

Ten studied you a moment longer, sensing the wall you’d built but unable to breach it, at least not yet. The chemistry lab felt colder somehow, the hum of the equipment underscoring the quiet between you. 

“I see,” he said finally, stepping away from the counter with a deliberate calm. “Not much scares you. That’s…interesting.”

You met his retreating gaze, expression taut. “People who get scared don’t last. Or they don’t survive the Purge.”

He nodded once, as if acknowledging a truth too sharp to argue with. “Maybe you’re right.” Then, without another word, he turned and walked out, leaving the air thick with unspoken questions. 

That night, alone in his dimly lit apartment, Ten replayed the conversation. Your calm defiance echoed in his mind like a puzzle he was desperate to solve. You should have broken under pressure, even cracked a little, but you didn’t. You didn’t flinch at all. He scanned through your file again, noting every detail, every pattern that didn’t fit the profile of a survivor.

Exactly one week later, at the same time, same place, Ten was waiting. When you entered the lab, his presence was immediate. 

“Back so soon?” you asked, eyebrow raised, a hint of challenge in your voice. 

“I find consistency reassuring,” Ten said, stepping forward smoothly. “And I wanted to try again.” You smiled, curious despite yourself. “Come with me,” his voice was low but inviting. “I want to show you something. My lab.”

You paused, then nodded. “Alright. Let’s see what you’re hiding.”

Inside the lab, the sterile glow of monitors and the soft hum of machines wrapped around you both. Next to you, Ten moved confidently, pulling up scans and data. “This is where I study what happens during the Purge, how people’ brains shift when morality blurs, when fear turns off.”

He glanced at you, watching for any sign of discomfort. Instead, you met his eyes coolly. “And what happens when the line between hunter and hunted disappears?”

Ten’s smile was a fraction slower this time. “Then the game begins.” He let the silence stretch, then added, “Tell me. If you were part of my research, what would I find?”

You tilted your head, looking up and humming as though thinking. “Someone who doesn’t break. Not easily.”

“Good,” he said softly. “I like that.” Ten lingered beside one of the computer monitors, its screen pulsing with red-blue brainwave readings, abstract but alive. 

He didn’t look at you as he spoke again. “I’ve found that in most cases, people’s neurological responses change during the Purge. Empathy drops. Inhibitions vanish. Violence becomes logical.” He finally turned. “Do you think that’s natural? Or learned?”

You studied the screen for a beat. “Survival is instinct. Violence is…selective memory.”

That made Ten pause. “You speak like someone who’s done more than survive.”

You smiled, slow and sharp. “You study the mind, right? Tell me, what do you see when you look at me?”

Ten took a step forward, just enough to invade the air between you. “A controlled subject. Which makes me wonder what happens when that control slips.”

You didn’t move back. “Maybe you should ask better questions.”

“Maybe I already know the answers.” His tone dropped. “You were there that night. When the donor’s brother died.” The air shifted.

Your lips twitched. “A lot of people died that night.”

“And yet you lived.”

“I had help.” You tilted your head. “What’s it to you?”

Ten didn’t answer at first. He studied you the way predators admire strong prey, curious and almost respectful. “Maybe I like studying anomalies.”

Your laugh was quiet. “Or maybe you’re trying to decide if I’m dangerous.”

“Are you?”

You leaned forward, eyes gleaming in the screenlight. “Only if someone underestimates me.” The tension swelled, sharp as a scalpel. Ten’s breath left him in a slow exhale, as if he were recalibrating something inside himself. But you pulled away first. “I should get going,” brushing imaginary dust from your sleeve. “Wouldn’t want to disturb your research.” 

Ten nodded, masking the sudden, tight pull of disappointment in his chest. “Of course. Thank you for coming.” 

You reached the door, then glanced over your shoulder. “Next time,” your voice silk-wrapped steel, “ask a question worth answering.”

And then you were gone.

Over the next few days, Ten didn’t seek you out immediately, but he was always watching. Not just your movements, but the way you inhabited space. Alone, silent, unafraid. Your routine was precise, almost clinical. No wasted energy, no unnecessary contact. 

It made him restless. So when he saw you appear in his lab, at the same time as last week, a faint scent of antiseptic clinging to your sleeves, he was ready. “Back again?” he asked, glancing up from his tablet, already knowing the answer.

You stepped into the lab without hesitation, eyes scanning the walls as if cataloguing secrets. “You said something about brainwave changes during trauma. I’ve been thinking about cortisol levels under prolonged stress.”

Ten smiled. He hadn’t expected you to follow up. But then again, maybe he had. He gestured to the far monitor. “You want to see the scans?”

You nodded, brushing past him, eyes flicking to the data like you already knew how to read them. You didn’t flinch at the violent spikes, the jagged dips. Instead, you asked, “And what does this pattern tell you?”

“That fear is chemical,” Ten explained. “But control…that’s behavioral. You can train a mind to do anything, even forget how to be afraid.”

You hummed, a thoughtful sound. “Or maybe it never knew fear to begin with.”

He watched the curve of your mouth. “You’re not here for the science, are you?”

You turned your head slightly, meeting his eyes. “Neither are you, it seems.”

Ten felt something jolt in his chest. Fascination…or warning. 

The next time you showed up, a week later, Ten had prepared a different tactic. He let the door click open with a gesture and didn't bother to greet you. Instead, he nodded toward the stool near the microscope. 

“Do you want a hands-on experience?” he asked. “I need an assistant.”

You raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. “That’s what this is now?”

Ten shrugged, already moving toward the tray of samples. “You’re consistent. I like consistency.” You slipped on gloves without a word. He handed you a thin slide with what looked like a clear smear, nothing extraordinary. “Prefrontal cortex slice. The donor was mid-Purge. High aggression, low inhibition. Find the anomaly.” And then silence.

He stood beside you, but said nothing. He waited. Watching, measuring. Minutes passed. 

Finally, you looked up. “This cell…here.” You pointed to a small cluster. “It’s partially necrotic. Almost as if something shut down mid-response.”

Ten nodded his head. “Exactly.” 

You placed the slide down. “So the question isn’t what activated them. It’s what stopped them.”

His lips pulled into a grin. “I could use someone who sees that.”

You crossed your arms, tugging the gloves off. “Is this an offer or another test?”

“Can’t it be both?” He looked at you, eyes unreadable.

You didn’t answer. Not directly. Instead, you pulled your coat on. “I’ll be back next week. Same time.”

And then you were gone again, leaving behind silence and the faint hum of machines, the scent of sterilized air, and something harder to name.  

Ten didn’t tell anyone he had a new assistant. He didn’t log your visits, didn’t mention your name in his reports. You slipped in and out of his lab like a controlled variable, never early and never late. Always watching, always matching his tempo. It unsettled him how easily you fit into his space. 

And still, he let you in. 

You never asked questions he didn’t want to answer. But you noticed things. The unlabelled drawer in the back of the lab, the camera turned slightly toward the surgical table, the way his voice always calmed right before he said something dangerous. 

You never commented. And he never asked why you weren’t afraid. 

Five days before the Purge, he found you in the library, alone as always. The dim evening light cuts across your face in bars of gold and shadow. You didn’t look up as he sat across from you, sliding a worn notebook onto the table like a peace offering. 

“This Saturday,” he began, quiet and deliberate, “I want you to see something.” 

You met his eyes, calm and unshaken. “What kind of something?”

“Real data. In real time. I’ll be observing from a rooftop downtown. Neutral ground. Clear view.”

Your eyes narrowed slightly. “Observation only?”

“For now.” He waited. 

You closed your book. “Give me the address.”

When you stepped out onto the rooftop of the hotel Ten had sent you the address to, it was 52 minutes until the start of the Purge. The sky was clear, too clear. A sterile kind of night. The wind curled over the edge of the rooftop like a secret. 

Ten had already set up his camera equipment, binoculars, and heart-rate monitors. Clinical and controlled. Though all of it was unnecessary. You both knew the real study wasn’t happening down in the streets.

You walked to the edge, gaze slipping over the city like you were trying to remember it. He joined you, close enough to feel the heat of you against the chill. “You came,” he murmured.

“I said I would.” 

He looked at your profile, sharp in the dark, untouched by fear. “Most people would’ve run.” 

You turned to face him. “You don’t pick easy targets.”

Ten’s smile flickered. “No. I pick the ones who don’t beg.” A silence stretched, then–

He stepped forward, closing the distance. Testing. Not with his hands, but with pressure and presence, the weight of who he was and what he might do. You didn’t move. He leaned in, just enough. “Tell me to stop.” But you didn’t.

Instead, you tilted your head, eyes gleaming in the darkness. “You won’t.” 

Ten froze, not because you were wrong, but because you were right. And it unraveled something. Something he couldn’t study, couldn’t replicate. 

In the half-second before he touched you, before he crossed a line that would turn this into something else entirely. You vanished. Not literally, but with a step and a breath, you were gone from his reach, standing just far enough that he’d have to make the next move. 

But he didn’t. Because suddenly, for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t sure he could win. 

“I like to watch the city settle before it burns,” he said, voice soft like a confession. “There’s a…tension. The kind you don’t see during the chaos. Only right before.” 

You looked at him, the wind brushing your hair across your face. “Is that what you’re recording? Tension?”

“I’m recording everything.”

“Everything down there,” you clarified, nodding toward the flickering city lights. “Or everything up here?”

The corners of his lips twitched, almost impressed. “You’re very focused on the subject of observation.”

“I have to be,” you said simply. “Most of my life’s been spent figuring out which angle someone’s watching from.” 

A beat passed. “Does it bother you?” he asked, stepping toward the edge, gaze sweeping over the grid of buildings below. “That I watch?”

“No. I just wonder what you’re trying to see.” 

Ten turned toward you then, eyes sharp. “A reaction.” 

You raised an eyebrow. “Is that all you want from me?”

“No.” His answer was immediate, firm. “I want accuracy, authenticity. The raw version people hide until the sirens start.”

“Is that what you think I am?” You took a step closer, mirroring him now. “A case study? A test subject that walks and talks and gives you something different to pin under glass?”

His jaw ticked. “You’re different from the others.”

“Because I'm not afraid?”

“Because you should be,” he countered. And for once, his voice lacked curiosity. It was low, almost bitter. “You don’t run. You don’t beg. You don’t even ask me not to touch you.”

You studied him, unblinking. “That’s now power, Ten. That’s a choice.”

And that word, it hit something buried beneath his calm. Because of all his data and for all his precision, choice had always been the illusion he offered others. It was never something that could be taken back. 

“Why did you come tonight?” he asked, voice quieter now, more careful. “Was it curiosity? Or something more…deliberate?”

You smiled, small and knowing. “To see what you’d do when you didn’t get to play predator.”

Ten’s eyes darkened. “I’ve never needed permission.”

“No,” you agreed. “But you like the idea of earning it. You crave control. And I…” You stepped closer, mere inches between you. “I think you’re terrified of what happens when you don’t have it.”

His breath stilled. Far below, people milled about. 44 minutes. Ten looked at you again, really looked, past the lines of your face, the quiet defiance in your eyes. Something flickered in him, low and primal. But he didn’t move. Not yet. 

Instead, he asked, “Have you ever killed anyone?”

“No.”

“Would you?”

“I’m still deciding.”

Ten’s smile returned, slow and cold and pleased. “You’d be exceptional.”

“Don’t recruit me,” you spat, sharp now. “Not tonight. You invited me here, but don’t pretend it was about the skyline.” 

“I never pretended.” His eyes gleamed. “I just haven’t decided what kind of ending I want.” 

You breathed in. “That’s the problem with people like you. You think you can orchestrate the ending. You forgot that I can write half the story, too.” Another silence. Then–

“I want to see what you do when the sirens start,” he confessed. “When the world says it’s allowed.”

You met his gaze. “You’ll be disappointed.” 

He stepped toward you again, nearly closing the distance between you. “You keep saying that like it’s a threat.” 

“No,” you whispered. “It’s a promise.”

The minutes passed slowly, like they were being drawn out on purpose. At 39 minutes, Ten sat cross-legged near his equipment, adjusting the lens of his camera, though his eyes never truly left you. You wandered the perimeter of the rooftop, silent, fingers tracing the railing. Neither of you spoke, and yet the air between you buzzed with everything unsaid. 

At 33 minutes, he broke the silence. “You didn’t answer my question.” 

You didn’t turn around. “Which one?”

“Why you came.” 

“I already told you.”

“No.” He stood now, slow and deliberate, like every movement was part of a performance he’d rehearsed in his mind. “You told me what you wanted me to believe. There’s a difference.” 

You turned then. “Do you want the real reason?”

“I always want the real reason.”

You crossed the distance between you again, but this time, you stopped a little closer. Enough that he’d feel the calculation in your silence. “I wanted to see if you’d flinch.” 

Ten blinked, surprised. “And?”

“I’m still watching.” 

He laughed, short and dark. “You think you’re hunting me?”

“I think we’re circling the same cliff edge,” you replied. “And I’m just waiting to see who jumps first.” 

At 25 minutes, the city lights below dimmed in some blocks, a rolling blackout in preparation for the Purge. Far off, a sire test warbled once, then died, and you both turned toward the sound like animals tuning to an instinct. 

“Do you know what I used to believe?” Ten asked, almost conversational. “That people reveal their truest selves when they think no one’s watching. But I was wrong. It’s not solitude that reveals the truth. It’s permission.”

You looked at him. “And tonight gives you that?”

He grinned full-on. “Tonight gives everyone that. But not all of us know what to do with it.”

You cocked your head at him. “Do you?”

He was closer now. A few steps that neither of you marked until the space between you was negligible. “I think I do. But you make me question it.” 

Your voice lowered, words like silk over glass. “Because you can’t read me?”

“Because I don’t want to.” His gaze dropped to your mouth, then returned to your eyes. 

At 14 minutes, the wind picked up, whipping between you like it wanted to cut the tension. Ten reach up, brushing a strand of hair from your face, no permission asked, none needed. This time, you didn’t step away. 

“Are you going to kiss me or kill me?” you asked. 

“I haven’t decided. 

You leaned in, breath brushing his lips. “Then we’re the same.”

At 11 minutes, the camera clicked once. Neither of you looked toward it. The lens was no longer the most powerful gaze in the room. Ten’s fingers ghosted your jaw. “You know what I’m afraid of?” You didn’t answer. You didn’t have to. “I’m afraid you’ll stay.” 

10 minutes left. The silence was held tight between you. The world below buzzed louder, preparing. Somewhere nearby, a car alarm wailed like a prophecy. You looked at him. His chest rose and fell, slow and deliberate. You reached for his hand. For the first time, Ten didn’t study at the moment. He surrendered to it.

9 minutes. Ten’s fingers curled around yours, not too tight, not too loose. Like he was still learning the weight of the moment, still deciding whether to hold on or let go. You said nothing. Neither did he.

8 minutes. Far below, a gunshot cracked. Premature and eager. The sound rippled across the city like a dropped match in a field of dry grass. Someone always jumped the gun. You turned slightly toward the noise. Meanwhile, Ten didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink.

7 minutes. “I always thought the sirens would excite me,” he said, barely audible above the wind. “But this part…the waiting…it’s worse.” You studied him, your head tilted just enough to make him wonder whether you pitied him or understood him too well.

6 minutes. “There’s no going back after tonight,” you murmured. 

Ten smiled faintly. “You say that like we haven’t already crossed a line.”

You didn’t disagree.

5 minutes. The city was almost silent now, as if it had taken one collective inhale, bracing. The camera behind you ticked once, then again. Still recording, still watching. Just like you.

4 minutes. Ten looked at you fully. “If you run, I’ll find you.”

You simply smiled at him. “That’s the point.”

3 minutes. Far below, the first fires lit, small and scattered. Controlled for now. But they wouldn’t stay that way, not for long. You touched his face then, brief and fleeting, like you were memorizing it. And maybe you were. 

“I’m not like your others,” you whispered. 

“I know,” Ten replied, a dangerous softness in his voice. “You’re the first one I invited.” 

2 minutes. Ten stepped back, not far, but enough. Enough to shift the power. Enough to say ‘choose now’. You didn’t move, your hand staying on his cheek. 

1 minute. A countdown began on one of his devices. The screen glowed faintly. 

60 seconds. 59. 58. You both turned toward the edge of the roof, toward the city, toward the war zone waiting below. “Final question,” Ten said, his voice dark velvet. “Do you want me to catch you?” You didn’t answer.

14 seconds. The wind howled now, threading between you like a warning. The city below was a heart mid-seizure, twitching with light and shadows and something darker creeping in. 

7 seconds. Ten’s eyes didn’t leave yours. And then–

4 seconds. He smiled. Soft, almost mournful.

2 seconds. His hand came to hold yours on his cheek, tight. 

1 second. “I hope you understand,” he whispered. 

The sirens wailed like a scream torn from the earth itself. Low, echoing, apocalyptic. The beginning of something wicked. The city erupted in noise. Glass shattering, voices shouting, metal clanging against concrete. Permission granted. 

And Ten moved. Fast. Brutal. One clean pivot and a shove, palms flat against your shoulders, force aimed low and precise. Calculated. A killer’s motion, not desperate, but designed. 

You didn’t fight it, didn't cry out, didn’t even flinch. Your feet left the roof. Wind tore past your ears, time warped, and for a moment, there was peace. Then you were gone. Over the edge. 

Ten stepped forward immediately, peering over the side. No hesitation. Not out of regret, not out of shock, but verification. 

The alley below was narrow, choked in shadow. A fire escape clattered in the distance. Movement flickered across a reflective surface, perhaps a windshield or a window. 

There was no body. Nothing. Just the gaping space where you should have landed. 

Ten’s hands curled into fists at his sides. He scanned again, still nothing. Not even the sound of impact. Not a single goddamn trace. 

The sirens still echoed as he stepped back from the edge, slower now. His mind was already racing. ‘She let me push her,’ the thought came. ‘She let me.’ And now she was gone. Behind him, the camera clicked again, watching and recording, witnessing the moment the hunter became the hunted. 

Your breath hitched as you crouched low behind a rooftop HVAC unit, one block over. The glide from the fire escape had been rough. Metal bit into your palms, and gravity had tugged too hard, but you were alive. Alive, and now unseen. 

The sirens still cried. The game had begun. And you weren’t prey. Not anymore. You reached into your coat, pulling out the slim black card with your lab clearance code etched in red. 

VOLUNTEER - BEHAVIORAL DEVIANCY DIVISION - PURGE NIGHT CLEARANCE A

Ten had read it once, filed it away, and assumed it meant safety. What he didn’t realize was that it meant access.

You slid the card back into your pocket and whispered into the comm embedded in your collar. “Subject One has initiated first contact. Attempted kill. Status: failed.”

Static. Then a reply crackled through. “Copy that. Begin phase two. Good hunting.”

You moved like a shadow through the city. The world had fallen into sanctioned madness, sirens, screams, fire, and blood, but you operated above the chaos. Every checkpoint was bypassed, every surveillance node looped. The city belonged to the wolves tonight, and you had already memorized the map of the forest. 

Ten’s lab, his real lab, was underground, far below the staged setup he showed you. Ten always liked being beneath things. Hidden, private, quietly watching. He had once told you that silence was his favorite kind of violence. Now you were listening. 

The lab was laughably easy to breach. His security system had a tell, an echo in the thermal pattern, a single node that pulsed too fast. You slipped through the blind spot like it had been waiting for you. 

1:16am. Inside, the lab was cold and perfect. The white walls were bloodless and sterile. You didn’t expect sentimentality here. This wasn’t where Ten felt. This was where he fed. 

You moved to the monitors, eyes flicking over the screens, fingers already inputting codes on the keyboards. You didn’t need to guess his passwords. You knew them. 

The footage was all there. Unfiltered, timestamped, catalogued. Victims. Movements. Patterns. Your face, your conversations, and your rooftop moments are already indexed under ‘Subject Six’. You smiled faintly. “Cute.” You didn’t delete the footage. That would be obvious. Instead, you altered it. Cross-referenced locations, changed timestamps, looped data points so subtly it would take him hours to unravel what was real. You left red herrings, evidence that implicated external buyers, higher bidders, corrupted files spliced with falsified security clearance tags. 

Then, you found the backups buried deeper, files that Ten didn’t label. Payment records. Coordinates. Names. Deals struck with people he should have never spoken to. Mercenary contacts, international traffickers, names on the government’s silent kill list. Ten wasn’t just observing the Purge. He was monetizing it. 

“Subject One, status?” your comm whispered. 

You responded immediately. “Phase two complete. Initiating psychological destabilization.” 

You moved to the freezer vault, where Ten stored post-mortem samples. You opened it and began to paint. 

3:11am. You stood over your work, a replica of a victim from Ten’s third Purge, perfectly reconstructed in blood on the white tile floor, posed identically to the crime scene he thought only he remembered. It was a silent accusation, a perfect echo. By sunrise, there would be five more, each a replica, a message. ‘I know who you are. I see you. You’re not alone anymore.’

5:44am. Ten stumbled back into the lab, covered in soot, sweat, and doubt. The building was dim, lights pulsed erratically, motion sensor was confused by the tampering. He didn’t notice the security feed loop glitching on camera five, not at first. Then he saw the altered footage. His own voice warped, his own images rearranged. Someone had been inside his sanctum, and he hadn’t even felt it. He was unraveling. 

That’s when you stepped into the room. No grand entrance, just a presence at his back. He turned. You stood beside the monitors, your face half-lit by the glow of screens. Calm and composed. Like you’d never fallen, like you had never left. 

Ten looked at you like a man trying to decode his own reflection. “Why?” he rasped, voice frayed from hours of shouting into shadows. “Why are you doing this?”

“To see what you’d become without the lie of control.”

Ten took a slow step towards you. “You’re not punishing me.”

“No,” you agreed. “But I could be.”

He laughed, short and bitter. “Is this a test?” You did not answer. Ten stared at you for a long time. Something in his expression cracked, then flooded. He looked ruined, but hungry. “I haven’t tried to kill you since the roof,” he confessed. 

You nodded. “I noticed.” You were aware he could have tracked you, tried again to kill you, multiple times. 

“You’ve been painting ghosts with my sins. Leaving trails like bait.”

“Have you followed them?”

“Every single one.” 

Silence folded between you like a trap waiting to be sprung. Ten stepped closer. “You don’t want me dead. Not really.”

You didn’t move. “No. I want you to feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“What it’s like when someone sees everything you are and doesn’t run.”

His breath hitched. The lights flickered. Somewhere far above, the city burned. Ten looked at you like he’d already made his choice. “I don’t want to kill you,” he admitted. 

“I know,” you replied. 

“I want to understand you.”

“You can try.” 

He paused. “Do you want me to fail?”

You smirked faintly. “I haven’t decided yet.”

That morning, the sun rose slowly and indifferently. Ash floated through the light like confetti made of bone. Sirens had long gone silent, replaced now with the quiet hiss of emergency drones, the mechanical hum of recovery. A new day had begun, one that refused to mourn what had come before. 

You limped into the lab just after seven, body sore from the night’s events. The hallways flickered back to full brightness as you passed. Everything had been sanitized, except the things that couldn't be. You could still smell it. Smoke, copper, antiseptic, and him. 

Ten was already there. White coat, clean gloves, perfect posture. You knew the blood on his knuckles had been scrubbed off just an hour ago. He had bruises blooming on his arms, a faint cut below his eye, but his gaze was steady. Curious. Like he hadn’t spent the night trying to erase you. 

“Morning,” he greeted. 

You nodded once, slipping your own coat over bruises and scrapes you hadn’t bothered to bandage. “Lab notes?”

“On the desk.” 

You crossed the room, passing him. Too close. Deliberate. The kind of proximity that said ‘I’m still here. I remember everything.’

He watched you sit, watched the way your fingers danced over the keyboard. Then he spoke again. “You left something behind.”

You looked up. He reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out your lab clearance card, letters still etched in red, blood now dried along the edge like a signature. You didn’t flinch. “Keep it.”

Ten’s lips twitched. Not quite a smile, more like the memory of one. “You want me to have access to you?”

“I want you to remember that I’m always watching.”

He paused. “We could’ve killed each other.” 

“We still might.” 

Silence, warm and tense, wrapped the room in a cocoon of shared violence. You typed a line of code into the monitor, then stopped. “You’re not going to ask what I changed?”

“I already know,” Ten responded. 

“Then why haven’t you fixed it?”

He walked toward you slowly, step by step, measured like a dance he’d rehearsed. “Because if I erase what you did, it means I’m afraid of what comes next.”

“Are you saying you’re not afraid?”

Ten stopped beside you, reaching out, not touching, just close enough to feel the heat radiating off of you. “I’m not. I’m something worse.”

You turned, meeting his gaze. “And what would that be?”

“Curious.”

Day after day, you both returned to each other. You sat on opposite sides of the lab’s long steel table. Always close enough to see the tremble in each other’s hands. Neither of you ever asked why. No one spoke of the night. You didn’t need to.

Instead, you played chess in silence, always starting with the same pieces. Sometimes you let him win, sometimes he lets you corner yourself. Once, he made a move that mirrored your rooftop feint. Knight to F5. A trap. 

You smiled, sweet and blood-deep. “Well played,” you murmured. 

He didn’t respond. Just watched you like he wanted to press his lips to yours and see if you’d let him. 

You weren’t in love, not exactly. But you were bound, wound around each other like two serpents sharing heat. The lab stayed cold, but inside, the two of you burned. You shared a bond forged out of blood and honesty. There was no confession, no guilt. Just the quiet, terrifying comfort of someone who knew what you looked like when you decided not to flinch, when you chose to stay. 

The truest parts of you didn’t live in daylight. They came out once a year, in fire and bone. Yet here you both were. Waiting.  

Autoplay: If you liked this, you may also like Shadow - L.Ten

[seospicybin]

REWIND.

PART I

Hyunjin x reader x Seungmin. (s,a)

Chapters: Part II

Synopsis: As a part of a research team that works on a memory-erasing machine, you work alongside the professor whom you greatly admire and a computer geek who relentlessly flirts with you. But the one that you want is the one that you can't have. (12,6k words)

Author's note: Sorry for the delay. Enjoy this one!

Memories are recordings of our past experiences and experiences can be good and bad, some are in between. There are also ones that we wish we had never experienced in the first place and whether we like it or not, they stay with us. We can only try to endure them in the hope that time will lessen the pain that memory carries.

The thing is remembering is easy. It's forgetting that's hard.

Here at KS Research Facility, forgetting is as easy as pressing the delete button. The research team has successfully built software called Memory Neurons Erasing Machine, in short, MNE-Machine.

With the existence of this machine, now anyone can erase a certain memory from their brain and live as if that memory never existed at all.

The one to thank for this technology is Professor Kim Seungmin, the youngest yet the brightest scientist of the past decade. He is the one who came up with the idea, spent two years developing that idea, initiated the project, and ultimately, led the team building the machine from scratch.

There's only one MNE-Machine in the world for now and once it has successfully passed five human tests, the board will authorize the production of this machine so eventually, anyone can easily undergo the memory erasing procedure which means there’ll be more people to help.

And what is your part in this? You're an assistant to Seungmin, you directly work with the man who invented it and help him achieve his goal. Despite your minor role, you're proud to be a part of it. Despite restocking the coffee pods in his office is one of your job desks, well… yeah, you're still proud of it.

"How much time do I have before the meeting?"

You scramble when you see Professor Seungmin come into the office. You hurriedly finish restocking the coffee pods into the drawer and crumple the empty box behind your back. You glance at your wristwatch and check the time.

"You have approximately 30 minutes," you answer with a smile.

It's not like he'll your smile, Seungmin barely speaks a full sentence to you so there's no reason he looks at you in the eyes as he speaks. He goes to his drawer, scanning through the files with his fingers flipping one file over another to finally find the one he's looking for. He takes it with him as he sits on his desk, flipping the file open and starts reading.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Professor?" You ask because despite it being your job to assist him, he rarely asks for your help unless it's urgent.

He stays quiet until he flips to another page of his file, "Get me the subject's latest psych eval!"

"Right away, Professor!" You reply, picking up the empty box and carrying it with you out of the office.

Considering that there's not much time left until the meeting, you need to get it fast for Seungmin. But you know when you're in a hurry, there's always something that slows you down in the process. Well, in your case, it's a man who dresses like he's in a rock band in his ripped jeans and oversized t-shirts, his dark hair that he keeps long is usually tied in a low, messy ponytail.

At one point, everyone just kind of gave up telling him to put his lab coat on. As long as he does his job well as a tech scientist, everyone just let him be.

However, Hwang Hyunjin can't let you be, he flirts and teases, even seduces you at any chance possible.

"Can you get off my chair?" You ask, then let out a low sigh.

He swivels the chair to face you and grins, making his eyes forming two crescent moons, "I'm making your chair much more comfortable," he simply says while patting his lap, telling you to sit on it instead.

It's only going to be a waste of time trying to tell him off so you relent, sitting on his lap and when he's about to put his arms around you, you glare at him.

Hyunjin immediately put his hands up in defeat, "Want to grab drinks after work?"

He asked you the same question every other day for a few months now and your answer remains the same.

"No," you answer without a beat, getting on your computer to search for the file Seungmin asked.

"How about dinner?" Hyunjin shoves his hand into the pocket of your lab coat, knowing you like to keep sweets in there.

"My treat," he adds while checking the other pocket.

You're clicking open a few folders as you answer, "No."

Hyunjin excitedly gasps as he pulls out something out of your pocket, a caramel. He wastes no time to unwrap it then pops the cube-shaped caramel into his mouth.

"You know you can't keep saying no to me," he says, resting his chin on your shoulder.

"No," you shortly respond.

He hisses at the way you keep rejecting him, "There'll be a day where you say yes," he confidently says.

You look away from the computer screen to look at him and say, "No."

He softly sighs then rests his chin on your other shoulder, "Let's say you already done your part playing hard to get and get to the first base already," he shamelessly says.

Hyunjin is so bold and confident, you can't deny that he's beautiful, he probably never had any problems getting any girls he wanted. Maybe that’s why he won't stop asking you out, he feels challenged to win you over too. As if you would let him have the satisfaction.

Shaking your head, you pretend that you didn't hear him say that. You click print on the file and get up from his lap, walking to the printer to wait for it to finish printing yet Hyunjin follows you there, leaning against the printer machine with his arms crossed in front of you

"The more you reject me, the more motivated I am," he says with a lopsided grin on his face.

"You sound like a serial killer," you tell him.

He bends down to get the printed file for you and hands it to you with both hands, "I'm just saying."

Without looking, you know Hyunjin is trailing behind you like a puppy with his tail wagging behind him. He then sits on the edge of your desk, grabbing the stapler for you to use.

"Go, do your job or something!" You try to send him off even though you know it's going to be a useless effort.

"I am doing my job by helping you do your job," he says with a half-smirk.

See? It's only going to waste your time trying to tell him off, it's easier to ignore him. You hurriedly tidy the files and bring them to Seungmin's office. You place three gentle knocks on the door before letting yourself in.

"Professor, I have the files you need— Ouch!" You bump into someone and you glance up to see that it's Seungmin.

His office is big, in fact, too big for someone who likes to spend most of his time in the lab yet you feel like there's no space left where you can escape his intense stare.

"Oh, God! I am so sorry," you apologize in sheer panic and quickly take off the hands unknowingly resting against his chest.

You expect him to, you know, dust himself off since your hands were touching him but instead of that, he looks at you and not just look at your face but right into your eyes for the first time in a long time. The eye contact only lasts a second until Seungmin takes the files from you.

"I'll read it on the way to the meeting room," he says.

Having no time, you hurriedly grab your things from your desk, clutching them close to your chest as you follow him from behind.

On the way to the meeting room, Seungmin spotted Hyunjin having a donut in the pantry. He stops on his track to say, "Aren't you coming?"

Hyunjin knows well enough that when Seungmin tells him to go, then he should go. In fact, Seungmin is the only one who can control Hyunjin. A part of the reason is because Seungmin personally hired him and has been taking him under his wing, you can say Hyunjin is his protégé.

He puts the half-eaten donut down and happily joins the two of you as you let him link his arm with you, walking together to the meeting room.

-

There are three main buildings in the KS Research Facility.

 A building is the main office and a health facility, B building is the biggest and also a research facility, there are several science projects on the works in there but it's mainly focused on Biochemical, led by Professor Hale and C building is where you work along with the team that works with MNE-Machine, it's the smallest building so the team get to have the building for themselves.

But as a smaller community, you have to go to the B building for meetings and such because most of the board members are there. You have to walk from and through the greenhouse, seeing all the rare plants the scientists are collecting in there on the way to get to the B building.

Today's meeting is to seek approval from the members of the board on the test subject Seungmin has carefully selected from a group of volunteers and once it's approved he can proceed with the procedure.

While the important people are busy talking about important stuff, you and Hyunjin are secretly playing tic-tac-toe in your notebook. He's twirling his pen between his fingers when you subtly nudge his elbow, signaling that it's his turn to place his O.

As Hyunjin observes the game with his tongue slightly sticking out the corner of his mouth, you notice that Professor Hale's assistant, Rina, is staring at Hyunjin.

"Your turn," he whispers at you.

You look down at your notebook and lowly mutter through your gritted teeth, "One o'clock."

It takes him a moment to get what you're saying, and then Hyunjin looks in the direction you hinted. You watch them exchange a look before Hyunjin turns his head back at you, looking unbothered. He clicks his pen to place an O and scratches down the line.

"I won," he whispers with his warm breath tickling your ear.

Noticing that the meeting has come to a final decision, you stop talking and fix your sitting position. You watch as the board members take votes on whether Seungmin can continue with the test or not and all hands are raised in favor of Seungmin.

"With all members approving the selected test subject, Professor Seungmin is allowed to continue with the procedure that will be held on the agreed upon time and place," the board leader announces.

Even in his triumphant moment, Seungmin remains calm and still, you can't remember the last time he smiled, even out of courtesy. Ha he always been like this? Honestly, you can’t remember.

"The board members will watch closely the process, before and after the test. We also demand follow-ups and thorough datas on every detail of the test," they warn once again even though it's not the first time Seungmin has run the test.

Everyone scatters around once the meeting has finished, you wait outside of the meeting room knowing that Seungmin will likely stay to chat with the other professors. Rina is still here as well, holding her tablet close to her chest and not-so-subtly staring at Hyunjin

"You should ask her out," you mutter at Hyunjin, subtly hinting the subject of the talk with your eyes.

Hyunjin doesn't even look up from his phone when he flat-out rejects the idea, "No, thank you."

"Why not? She's pretty and she's your age," you point out all of the obvious facts why he should be seducing her, not you who's a couple of years older than him and not having a shiny, healthy hair.

Hyunjin lets out a scoff, then shoves his phone into the pocket of his hoodie, "You're prettier and older," he says with a sly smile plastered on his face.

Whether he tries to compliment you or try to offend you, you feel like you need to check if there's something wrong with him. You poke his side with your pen and he yelps in pain.

"What's wrong with you?" He sharply gasps.

"You are what's wrong," you answer, poking him on the other side this time.

He laughs and leans against the wall facing you, slightly slouching so he can be on the same eye level with you. "Dating older women is hot, you know," he coyly remarks.

You give him a repulsed glare at his words, shaking your head as you look away from him.

"And you're hot so dating you would be ticking two boxes at once," he adds with his sly smile growing wider on his angular face.

Besides your actual job, you have to deal with this 5'10" man bursting with youthful charm and testosterone, you wouldn't complain if you get double paychecks for it. You aim his stomach next and poke him with your pen again, hoping a little violence would put some sense into his small head.

"One more test, huh?" Professor Hale says, patting Seungmin's shoulder as they walk out of the meeting room.

It feels like your body is accustomed to getting on your perfect posture whenever Seungmin walks into your radar, you stop moving altogether and stand up straighter.

"I'll see everyone on Friday!" Professor Hale says one last time, he also smiles at you and Hyunjin before turning to leave.

Now that the team has earned the green light, everyone is going to get busier to prepare everything. Seungmin lists the things he wants you to do as he walks back to C building and you jot down everything on your notebook. He stops by the main lab and gets Hyunjin on the job, ordering him to run a diagnostic test on the MNE-Machine, checking for any issues.

It's one of those times when you can see how passionate Seungmin is about his work.

He's the reason why you applied for the job, not only because you can work directly with him but also because you admire him, his brilliance, his work ethic, and most of all, him as a person.

There are so many things you learned from working for him for the last three years and your admiration toward him only grows bigger with time. And out of that admiration, something else grows, something that makes you excited to go to work, makes you happy at the sight of him and wanting to always be close to him.

Sensing that someone is watching him, Seungmin turns around to find you still standing there, "Don't you have things to do?"

You gulp air before asking, "Uhm.. Professor?"

He starts walking with his hands shoved inside his lab coat pockets, "Yes?"

You half jog to keep up with his wide strides, "Professor Hale said one more test and I thought we're only on our fourth test?"

You wait for his answer while quietly admiring his wide shoulders from the back while struggling to keep up with his fast walks.

All of a sudden, he turns on his feet and then he looks at you, the eye contact doesn't last longer than a second until he looks away, "Notify the test subject first and make sure they make the time for the interview tomorrow!" He orders instead of answering your question.

"Will do, Professor," you respond.

You manage to finish a few things before it's time to go home, the rest on the to-do list are meant to be done tomorrow though. As you're about to get your coat, Seungmin walks out of his office and swings his briefcase on his side.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says without looking at you.

"Have a great—" You don't even get to finish your sentence as he disappears into the elevator.

Only a dozen people are working in the C building and there are only five people working directly with Seungmin. Professor Lee who worked together on MNE-Machine with Seungmin is being called to give lectures out of the country and taking his assistant with him, so that leaves you and Hyunjin. The rest of the employees are working maintenance on the lower level of the building, you only meet them when you either enter or leave the building.

"Are you sure you don't want to grab drinks with me?" Hyunjin asks, unlocking his car but not getting in yet.

You toss your bag onto the passenger's seat before getting inside your car. It's actually tempting to say yes, you could use it to blow some steam off to prepare you for the busy days ahead.

But you don't want to give Hyunjin the satisfaction. No, not yet.

"No," you answer with a playful smile.

Hyunjin tosses his backpack inside and comes up to your car, he bends down to look at you through your rolled-down window.

"Come on. It'll be fun," he persuades with a smile that is mischievous and seductive at once. You bet this is how he puts anyone under his spell.

You turn your head at him and smile, "You know what would be fun?"

He tips his head to the side and asks, "What?"

"Me running you over with my car," you jokingly say as you turn on the car engine.

“Ooo… feisty,” Hyunjin hisses then slowly, he steps away from your car.

That's how most of your days usually went, dealing with two men who are the opposite of each other. One gives you not enough attention and the other gives you way too much. One is cold and nonchalant, the other one is warm and attentive.

Sadly, the one that you want is the one that you can't have.

-

What is it that he likes about you? Hyunjin can quite put his finger on it.

Something about you though draws him to you, it's almost magnetic and he happens to like the push and pull of it. However, he liked you even before this dynamic formed between the two of you.

He likes that you're unlike the other girls he had met and known, you have a way of carrying yourself, you're outspoken and bold, and he can see how smart you are from the way you act, the way you talk, and even the way you think.

Under that layer of fine qualities though, you're a simple girl, gentle and a bit silly and Hyunjin likes to play with that latter part of you because he knows that even though you act like you don't like being around him, he knows that it’s actually the opposite.

One thing that Hyunjin likes the most is when you're deeply focusing on something. You look so beautiful yet so unaware of it.

"Why are you working so hard? You only get one paycheck," he whispers from behind you as you observe the interview occurring in the next room.

"Thank you for gracing us with your presence,” You sneer at him.

Hyunjin stands right behind you, his hand is rummaging inside your lab coat pocket to find something sweet in there. He finds your scrunchie instead and he uses it to tie his hair into a messy bun.

"So, what memories are we going to erase?" Hyunjin asks while rummaging through your other lab pocket. He gasps in excitement when he finds a lollipop.

"A bombing incident, he was trapped under the rubble for ten hours in complete darkness and has been dealing with severe PTSD and claustrophobia ever since," you eloquently explain, jotting down a few things in your notebook as you speak.

"That's tragic," Hyunjin comments while struggling to unwrap the lollipop.

Hyunjin takes a moment to look at the interview taking place in the next room conducted by Seungmin himself. He's asking the test subject about his worst memories and as the test subject talks about them, he triggers the brain to show where these memories are located. It's important to have a map of these memories to prevent the MNE-Machine from messing with the other memories.

"Are you ready to spend another night together?" He asks, finally succeeding in unwrapping the lollipop.

"I can tell you're into threesomes," you joke in a plain tone.

It seems like Seungmin hasn't told you about the personal matter he has to attend on Friday night and as his assistant, you’re supposed to know these kind of things before him. Hyunjin crosses his arms in front of him and tries to make what of it.

"He didn't tell you?"

You stop noting down bits from the interview, "What?"

"Professor Seungmin will be having his wedding anniversary dinner on Friday night and obviously, he can't miss it," he tells you.

From the way your eyes waver and widen, you indeed have no idea about it. You look back at your notebook but stop writing.

He leans in and mutters, "We'd likely spend the night just the two of us, isn't that exciting?"

You put your pen into your pocket and flip shut your notebook, then you get up from your chair. You turn to look at him and pull the lollipop he stole out of his mouth.

"Stop stealing my sweet!" You tell him, shoving the lollipop into your mouth next.

You leave the room looking slightly upset about something but he's sure it's not about the lollipop. However, Hyunjin is mostly focused on how you didn't hesitate to take the lollipop.

"Kinky? Checked," he mutters to himself.

There's nothing wrong with the MNE-Machine and Hyunjin understands that Seungmin wants everything to be perfect until the day of the test, but he worries too much. The MNE-Machine can only get activated by his access key so he goes to his office, knocking on his door before popping his head between the doors.

"Professor, I need the access key to uh..." he awkwardly says because it feels like he's asking his dad if he can borrow his car.

"I'll be right there," Seungmin shortly answers.

Now that he only needs to wait for Seungmin, he has time to tease you. He leans on your desk, watching your nimble fingers busy typing something on your computer with your hair draping around your face.

"Hi, the most beautiful and hardworking girl," he sweetly greets you with a bright smile on his face.

"That's half true," you say without taking your eyes away from the computer screen.

"You know I'm always telling the truth," he says once again, feeling tempted to tuck your hair so he can see your face.

"I am the only girl in the building," you point out with a raised eyebrow.

Hyunjin can't help himself anymore, he reaches for your hair, wanting to brush it to the side when Seungmin gets out of his office.

"Let's go," he says to Hyunjin while fixing his lab coat.

Hyunjin reluctantly drops his hand and offers it to you, "Come with me, dear princess?"

You chuckle at him and take his hand, letting him put your hand around his as you both walk to the main lab.

MNE-Machine resembles one big X-ray machine but the technology behind it is way more intricate than that and Hyunjin's job is to operate it. He's sitting behind the large desk with a dozen computer screens showing a lot of things all at once.

It's a quick check-up for tomorrow's test, Hyunjin gets the machine ready and swivels his chair back to let Seungmin insert his access key to run the program. Hyunjin's long fingers are dancing on the keyboard, checking everything and making sure everything is fine.

"I don't see any issues here, working just fine, Professor," Hyunjin informs, showing him the performance log on one of the computer screens.

Seungmin observes it for a while, checking things himself and Hyunjin is already used to his mistrust. After all, Seungmin is a scientist,  he only believes something when it's written in data, not someone's words.

"Everything is great," he mutters, still checking everything.

"Just like I said..." Hyunjin lowly mutters through his teeth while swiveling his chair to see you, flashing a smile at you when you're clearly not looking at him.

Seungmin then turns around to face everyone but only looks at Hyunjin as he speaks.

"The two of you can come late tomorrow but make sure to be here by four. The test will commence at 5," Seungmin says even though everyone is well aware of it because it's the only thing they've been working on for these past few days.

"And we'll take care of the rest," Hyunjin continues his words while swiveling his chair back to face the computer,

Seungmin briefly glances at Hyunjin then takes a pen out of his lab coat, "I'll stay to supervise," he says.

"Then how about your dinner, Professor?" Hyunjin asks.

"I'll take care of my personal matter myself," Seungmin coldly answers.

Those words are enough to put Hyunjin back in his place, he retreats right away and closes his mouth. His intention is not to meddle in his business but it's a wedding anniversary, it only happens once in a year and he has to wait for another year to celebrate. Maybe Seungmin can celebrate it another time but Hyunjin wouldn't be so sure the missus would be pleased to hear her husband rather stay the night up working in the lab.

And also because—

"I think you should go, Professor," you say.

The heads are turned in your direction, and you're fidgeting with the hem of your lab coat as you speak, "I mean, once you authorized the procedure... Hyunjin and I, the two of us can supervise it..." your voice gets smaller the more you talk.

It seems like a good time for Hyunjin to add his say too, he gets up from his chair to make it a formal appeal.

"We just need to wait until the machine finishes the procedure. We surely can do that for you," Hyunjin assures.

It's going to be a hard case to convince him since Seungmin has trust issues, especially with Hyunjin. Again, it's the scientist in him.

"I don't feel good leaving such great responsibility on the two of you," He says without looking at either you or him.

"There's nothing to worry about, Professor. The machine works fine and if anything happens— which I'm sure nothing is going to happen, Professor Hale is a building away and... so are the other dozen of Professors..." Hyunjin failed not to fumble on his words, he was rambling the whole time.

"What Hyunjin is trying to say is we're trained to do this and if you're worried, we'll keep you notified every hour on the progress of the procedure," you immediately add.

Hyunjin secretly gives you a thumbs-up from behind his back, thanking you for backing him up.

Seungmin looks at him, then at you, probably considering whether to finally trust his employees or not. Whatever his decision is, Hyunjin is ready to be disappointed. After a moment, Seungmin clicks his pen and puts it back into his pocket.

"I'll think about it," he concludes, leaving the main lab with the hem of his lab coat flying behind him.

Hyunjin kicks the floor to gain momentum so the chair rolls across the room and hits the other end of the table, stopping not far from you.

"I know you want to spend the night together with me," he teases you.

You scoff and look at him, "Mmh. Yeah, sure."

He takes both of your hands and holds them, "What do you want to do tomorrow night, mmh?"

Your shoulders slump as you sigh, "Should I change my mind about this?"

Hyunjin puts his hands on your shoulders and keeps your gaze on him, "How about this? Tomorrow, you come dressed nicely for me and I'll take care of the essentials," he says, slowly blinking his eyes hoping they're enough to soften you.

The stillness on your face shatters as you break into a smile, "Okay," you reply with a nod.

Hyunjin leans down to kiss your hands but you retrieve them before he can place a kiss, "Don't get too excited!"

This proves that you actually like having him around. You could have drawn boundaries and he would have respected it, but instead of that, you keep letting him in.

And Hyunjin hopes you keep on letting him in until the day you finally say yes to him.

-

With Seungmin sending you to pick up his suits at the tailor means that he has decided to go to the wedding anniversary dinner tonight.

The drive from the nearest town to the facility takes half an hour and on the way back to your car, you see a flower shop and think of getting a bouquet as a gift. You pick the nicest one knowing that Seungmin married a woman who comes from a wealthy family and their wealth funded Seungmin's project. In fact, the facility is owned by Seungmin's parents in-laws.

What do you have against all that? This is the bitter pill you have to swallow everyday for the last three years.

As you expected, Seungmin is already in his office as you can see through the glass window, reading his journal and probably working on his new project already. You put on your lab coat and then knock on his office door three times before entering his office.

"Good day, Professor," you greet.

You walk to his coat hanger, hang his suits for him, and then put his mails on his desk. You take a step back and look at him, a way to let him know that you’re at his service.

"Anything else I can do for you, Professor?"

Seungmin looks up from his journal and lays his eyes on you, staring at you like there's something wrong with you. You immediately look down, checking your appearance and you're sure that it's not the first time you wear a skirt to work so what is different about you that gets him staring?

"P-professor?" You stammer, wiping your palms down the front of your skirt.

He immediately looks away and clears his throat as he flips the next page of his journal, "Make sure the serum is ready and check in on Professor Hale uh..." he clears his throat before continuing to talk.

"What time he'll be here, " He takes another look at you before turning his chair away from you.

"Sure thing, Professor," you respond, wasting no time to get on the job.

The sight of the flower bouquet reminds you to put it in the fridge for the time being to keep it fresh, you bring it with you to the pantry, and safely tuck it between bottles of water inside the fridge. You're supposed to go to the B building to get the serum but you make a stop at the main lab, seeing Hyunjin is already busy in front of his computer.

"That's new," you say, commenting on the glasses he's wearing.

Hyunjin rolls his chair away from his desk and looks at you with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, it's uh... I can't see clearly without them," he says while sticking his finger inside the frame, showing you that it's just the frame. Hyunjin has a weird sense of humor but in a way that is adorable, not annoying.

You softly laugh and shake your head, "I have to go to the next building."

He nods and effortlessly twirls a pen between his fingers, "I'd like to come with you but he wants me to..." he shows how busy he is to get everything ready for the test.

"That's okay. I'm working faster this way anyway," you playfully say.

After running around the facility getting everything ready for the test, you knock on Seungmin's office to notify him that everything is ready. As usual, you let yourself in after the third knock and walk up to his desk, "Professor, the test subject is already on their way here," you inform.

Seungmin gets up from his chair to put on his lab coat, "Okay then I'll uh..." he looks down at his desk, cluttered with papers.

"Can you look for the—" he points at the mess on his desk.

"Want me to tidy your desk?" You offer but not moving until you get his confirmation.

"Yes."

While he's busy putting on his lab coat, you gather all the papers and put all of them into a stack, along with old files he took out from archives. You organize them into different piles and when you lift his journal, his access key slips out of it. You don't know if he notices, but you quickly squat down to get it from the floor.

Seungmin keeps a Polaroid photo in the back of his access key, you can tell from the back of it but you're curious to see who's in the photo. The safe bet would be of his wife or them together but if that's the case then why did he choose to hide it?

"Here," you hand him his access key knowing that he needs it to authorize the use of MNE-Machine.

Seungmin looks at you, then at the access key in your hand. He quickly reaches for it and as he takes it from you, his fingers brush with yours, you feel a static current, a slight electric shock that makes you retract your hand right away.

You see that he senses it too from the way his eyes widen and grow a little intense, or maybe because you caught him staring into your eyes again.

"I'll check the main lab," you excuse yourself out of his office.

The preparation continues as Professor Seungmin explains the procedure that he'll be going through and after that, he gives him an injection with the serum that will make the test subject's brain responsive to the MNE-Machine. Soon, the test subject will fall into deep sleep and he'll remain in his slumber while the MNE-Machine is working on him.

Everyone gathers in the main lab to start the test and Professor Hale is here as the representation of the board members, watching over Seungmin who works with a team of doctors to check on the test subject one last time to continue with the procedure.

You walk up to stand next to Hyunjin who also watches everything from the operator room, you quietly take his hand and put it inside your lab coat pocket.

He turns his head at you and smiles when he finds the sweet you keep in there for him. He gladly takes it out of your pocket and his eyes shimmer when he finds out what it is, a small bar of chocolate.

"Good luck for today," you mutter to him.

"Thank you," He whispers as he puts it in the back pocket of his jeans.

It's time for the final step. Seungmin takes out his access key and scans it into the computer, sending the screens light up and the system starts loading.

Hyunjin then takes the role of operating the machine, clicking on his keyboard and getting the MNE-Machine ready for Seungmin. When he's done, he backs away to let Seungmin push the authorization button. He glances at Professor Hale, seeking final approval from him.

"Go ahead, Professor," Professor Hale says, allowing him to continue.

Seungmin confidently pushes the button and MNE-Machine begins by following the map Seungmin has recorded days before and from there, it starts erasing the targeted memories from its most recent to the earliest. The procedure could take 8 to 10 hours, depending on the amount of memories programmed to be erased.

Professor Hale applauds as Seungmin successfully launches another test and comes up to him to congratulate him with a proud smile on his face and pats on his shoulder, "Congratulations!"

"Don't congratulate me yet, Professor," Seungmin sheepishly says.

"We all know your machine is a great success," Professor Hale praises, briefly glancing at you before looking back at him.

You don't want to overanalyze something that could mean nothing but a mere glance. You smile at him thinking he's just being courteous with you.

Professor Seungmin leaves to send everyone off or more like, return to B building. Now that the procedure is truly underway, you come up behind Hyunjin to give him a pat on the shoulder.

"Wow. You're working," you poke fun at him.

Hyunjin takes your hand and pulls at it, dropping his head to the back to look at you, "Do I look smart?"

"You are smart," you simply confirm with a gentle pat on his cheek.

There's no other reason why Seungmin hired him in the first place if it's not because he’s qualified for the job which includes adequate intelligence.

"And you like smart guys so what are we waiting for?" He says, pressing your palm to his cheek.

"Professor Seungmin," you tell him, seeing that he's making his way back into the main lab with his hands buried in his lab coat pockets.

You hurriedly take your hands away from Hyunjin and take a step back, you immediately get on your perfect posture as his figure enters the room.

"What's the status?" Seungmin asks.

"Everything is up and running fine," Hyunjin immediately responds.

"Vital signs?"

"Normal and stable," you respond from the other end of the desk, watching over the state of the test subject's essential body functions.

Seungmin stayed for another hour until the MNE-Machine successfully erased the first memory. He checks on everything once again to finally leave the main lab and goes to his office to get ready to leave.

You don't want to walk in on him changing his clothes so you give it a few more minutes and decide to take the flower bouquet out of the fridge before you forget. As usual, you knock three times on his door but this time, you wait until he lets you in. You knock again when he doesn't respond, afraid that he's still changing.

"Come in!" Seungmin says from inside his office.

Seungmin is tying his tie in front of the mirror when you come in, you stop right by his desk and inform him of the latest status of the test.

"Keep watching it closely while I..." his words trail off as he slides the knot up to the base of his shirt collar. He turns around and takes the suit jacket off of its hanger, swiftly putting it on. He's doing a mundane thing yet it's such a mesmerizing sight for you.

You notice the back of his collar is folded and you reach for it, reflexively fixing it for him. Now that you have crossed into his personal space, you may as well continue by helping him flatten the lapels of his suit jacket. You can feel his eyes on you as you fix on his tie and you try so hard to ignore it.

It's better to say sorry than ask for permission.

You quickly take a step back once you're done and mutter your apology, "I'm sorry."

Instead of scolding you, Seungmin takes his briefcase and coat with him, then heads to the door. You scramble to chase him out of his office and give in once you know that he's going to the main lab to check everything before he leaves.

Seungmin returns with Hyunjin and you hurriedly grab the bouquet you bought for him. You doubt he'll accept it but what's the harm in doing something nice?

Hyunjin pushes the button on the elevator and it arrives in a minute. Not giving him a chance to reject your gift, you wait until the last moment to give it to him.

"Congratulations on your wedding anniversary, Professor," you mutter as quickly as possible, handing the bouquet right into his hand.

Seungmin looks at the flowers in his hand, then looks at you, seeming like he wants to say something but refrains.

"Congratulations, Professor!" Hyunjin also congratulates him as he stands next to you.

"Have a great night!" He cheerily adds with a bright smile and enthusiastically waves his hands at him.

As the elevator doors close, you feel like letting go of something that you can't get back. It's funny that it feels like that when he's not yours in the first place.

The hand rests around your shoulder and snaps you out of your head. You turn your head to find Hyunjin slyly smiling at you.

"Ready to party?" 

-

The parent is finally out of the house and Hyunjin can throw a party in the house.

As promised, he brought a box of things that he deemed as ‘essentials’ that he's been keeping it hidden in the cabinet in the pantry.

"Okay, impress me!" You tell him, standing across the table to see what he bought for tonight.

Hyunjin puts on a cocky smile, he's confident with what he does as he places the box on top of the counter with a low thud. First, he takes out all the bags of chips and cans of soda.

One corner of your mouth curls higher than the other, seeing that he bought all of your favorite snacks. You take a bag of chips and waste no time to tear it open.

"Not the time to be impressed yet," he says to you with the cocky smile still dancing on his face.

You shrug and continue munching on potato chips as he introduces you to the other essentials.

Hyunjin takes a bottle of Tequila next and you respond with a nod of approval. He continues with another one, a tin can, and slides it in front of you.

"Mints?" You ask in utter confusion.

This time, Hyunjin gives you a shrug. He makes you open the tin can to find two rolled joints inside. He sees another smile of approval rise on your pretty face.

Hyunjin suppresses his laugh as he fishes out the last thing, he holds it in his hand and puts it in the middle of the counter.

Your eyebrow raises at the sight of a box of condoms, "This is essential?" 

Hyunjin rests both hands on top of the counter, "If you want to do it raw, I'm more than okay with it," he jokingly says.

You pick it up and observe it like you have never seen it before, reading the back of the box like it’s a foreign object to you.

"Regardless we'll have sex or not, a condom is essential," Hyunjin adds.

You snort when you notice something on the box of condoms, "Are you sure you bought the right size?"

He snatches it from you and puts it back into the box. He stares at you and says, "You have no idea what's coming to you."

You chortle at his words and uncap the bottle of alcohol, "Let's get this party started, shall we?"

He stops from you from getting the bottle of Tequila, "No, wait, wait, now is the time for you to be impressed," he says.

You tip your head to the side, "What?"

"I have Tim from security bring us pizza when he takes his shift tonight," Hyunjin announces with a pride smile.

The facility is in the countryside and ordering food is hard because it takes at least half an hour to get here, even if they are willing to go that far, the food gets cold by the time they get here.

"Now, I am impressed," you remark with a sly smile.

As a start, you both have a few shots of Tequila before mixing it with soda and drinking it from your respective mugs. The party continues in the main lab as Hyunjin has to message Seungmin on the current status. Hyunjin chooses to send a text instead of calling, afraid that he interrupt the romantic dinner.

Hyunjin glances up from his phone to find you leaning against the desk, reading something on the computer. With your lab coat off, he can see the way you are dressed for tonight. Not sure if it's because of what he asked but you indeed dressed nicely tonight. You wear a blouse and a plaid skirt, and you rarely wear a skirt to work, but the one that intrigues him is the black tights you're wearing.

Fuck leaving so little to the imagination, he likes having a lot of imagination when it comes to you. He can imagine a lot of scenarios just from seeing the way you bend against that desk.

You take a small sip of your alcohol then look over your shoulder, "Do you know why I can't open this file?"

Hyunjin immediately comes to your aid, standing behind you until his chest meets your back and maneuvering your hand that is holding the computer mouse instead of doing it himself. His head hanging next to yours to find out the problem of why you can't open the file and he discovered that it's locked.

"You need an access key to open this," he simply answers.

"You're saying Professor Seungmin is the only one who can access the file?"

He quietly gulps air before answering your question, "Yes."

You turn your head to the side to look at him and he can't keep his calm when your lips are only inches away from him.

"Can we have that joint now?" You sweetly ask with your alcohol-tinted breath brushes his lips.

He softly smiles and answers, "Of course."

Hyunjin lights up the end of the rolled joint and takes a drag, passing it to you after while letting out a long curl of white smoke out of his mouth.

"Why do you think he locked it?" You ask as you take the joint from him.

"I don't know," Hyunjin honestly answers with a shrug, "Maybe it's his new project or something."

You take a long, slow drag and pursed your lips as you exhale the smoke, filling the room with the sweet-smelling smoke.

"I found it in among the data files of previous tests," you tell him, passing the joint to him.

You turn around to face the computer again to show him where you find the locked files, "See?"

It's supposed to be a fun night and discovering what's inside that locked files isn't a part of the plan. Hyunjin needs to intervene so when you're about to take your turn to smoke, Hyunjin keeps it tugged between his teeth and rolls his chair away from you.

"Hey!" You shout in complaint.

"Puff and pass!" You remind him of the unwritten rule of smoking pot.

Hyunjin shakes his head and reclines on his chair, "Come and get it," he says, smoke escapes his mouth as he speaks.

Once you come close enough, he pulls you until you topple and have you sitting on his lap. You don't seem to mind, you get comfortable instead, resting your back on his chest and let his arms wrapped around you.

You take the smoke from his mouth and finally take your turn, "You think he'll be back soon?"

Hyunjin's forehead wrinkled at your random and sudden question, "Professor Seungmin?"

"Yeah," you answer, handing the joint back to him.

He takes it from you but keeps it between his fingers, "Uhm... I don't know. Rich people tend to take their dinner seriously, they probably have a full-course dinner, and after that... sex," Hyunjin emphasizes the last word.

He then takes a quick drag and looks the other way to exhale the smoke, "God, I hope he gets laid. Man needs to lighten up!"

He passes the joint to you even though there's not much left of it but you refuse by shaking your head. He finishes it and throws the butt into his empty can of soda.

"Don't worry. We'll have time for a foreplay or two," he jokingly says with his hand rubbing down your arm.

You laugh at that and his body shakes along to your crisp laughter. You turn your head and there it goes again, your lips merely inches away from him.

This palpable sexual tension... Hyunjin can't take it anymore yet he does nothing but keeps staring at your face.

"Are you going to keep staring and not kiss me?" You say but it seems like you're reading his thoughts out loud to him.

You take his glasses off and toss them away, "Or do I have to do it for you?" 

Your hand curves around his neck and you angle his head towards you, not hesitating to lean in first to kiss him.

Hyunjin always thought that when the two of you kiss, he imagined it would be romantic but it's not, it feels way better than that. It feels natural and familiar like he has kissed you a thousand times, like your lips belong to be kissed by his lips.

And you know what? Fuck romantic kisses.

Hyunjin wants kisses that feel right like this, tightening his hold around you and engulfing you in his warm embrace as he deepens the kiss. The more he kisses you, the more he can't stop, and worse is, you keep trying to quench his endless thirst.

The sound of his phone ringing shatters the intense moment, he keeps kissing you and mutters against your lips, "Let's pretend none of us hear it."

You chuckle and slowly pull away, "It could be Professor Seungmin," you say, then console him with a quick peck on the lips.

"Mmh... 'kay," he heavily sighs.

Hyunjin reluctantly reaches for his phone on his desk while his other arm is still wrapped around you, not letting you get off his lap. He accepts the call right away and talks on the phone, it's Tim from security telling him his pizza is here. He ends the call with another sigh.

"I have to go and get our pizza," he pouts at you.

"Then go and get our pizza," you simply resolve.

Hyunjin holds you close and allows himself to plant a kiss on your neck. He stays there for a moment with his head buried in your neck, getting himself drunk in your heavenly scent.

After a moment, he forces himself to let you go, "Guess I have to go," he says in defeat.

You take that as a cue to get up from his lap and immediately smooth down your skirt, "I'll be waiting here."

Hyunjin ties his hair into a messy bun and takes his phone with him, in case Seungmin is going to call him to ask for the current status.

"Don't go anywhere, okay?" He warns you.

You lean your hips against the desk and take a sip of your alcohol, "Okay."

Hyunjin heads to the door and then turns around by the doorway, "We'll continue the kiss when we get back."

You manage to not spit your drink and swallow it before answering, "Okay."

Impulsively, Hyunjin rushes to you and places a long peck on your lips. He then breaks into a run, not giving you time to change your mind about continuing the kiss.

-

It's going to take at least 20 minutes for Hyunjin to pick up the pizza to and fro.

As you wait for him, you're going to your desk to check on a few things, and then you see Seungmin's office and get intrigued to get in there. You're not going to steal anything, you just want to take a look around and perhaps, get a few hints on what Seungmin is working on.

You've seen the books on his shelf one too many times so you come to his desk because that's where you usually get any hints. It's either something he randomly jot down on his notebook or the journals he's studying.

Seungmin happens to have a stack of them on his desk, you're going through them one by one, only reading the front page to see what it's about and moving on to the next one. However, between those scientific journals, you find a different file. You open it to see that it's a lease statement whether he wants to continue the contract for another year or not.

The first thought that comes to your head is that maybe Seungmin bought a nice beach house as a wedding anniversary gift but why did he rent it? He's more than capable of buying a property, especially a house with only one bedroom that—

Wait, what if they've been living separately? You check the address and find that the conclusion is rather implausible. It's two hours of drive, commuting from there and here would be tiring. 

The faint sound of the elevator chimes open can be heard from his office, it seems like Hyunjin has returned from picking up the pizza. You tidy up the stack and put them back where they belong, then quietly leave his office. You can hear Hyunjin calling for your name.

You jog to meet him in the pantry, "Smells nice!"

"Where were you?" He asks, opening the fridge to get another bottle of soda.

"Bathroom," you lie since it’s easier then refill his mug with more alcohol and Hyunjin pours soda after.

It must be the effect of the recreational drug you smoked earlier that makes the pizza taste exceptionally delicious and the next thing you know, you already ate three slices of them. Hyunjin has been so quiet and it's because his mouth is full of food. He smiles at you as you catch him taking a big bite out of his pizza.

"Hyunjin eats so well!" You coo, addressing him in the third person and poking at his cheek with your index finger, treating him like a little baby to annoy him.

"Do you have any memories you want to erase?"

The question just sort of pops into your head and you are kind of curious to know his answer. You pick up another slice and alternate it with a sip of your spiked soda in between bites.

Hyunjin slows down his chewing, he puts down his pizza slice to grab his drink, and takes an earthly sip, "Maybe that one time I pissed my pants during the school field trip," he answers.

"How old were you?"

"Second grade."

You take a small bite of your pizza and ask, "What happened?"

"I got bitten by a spider," he answers.

"And how did you piss your pants?"

"Because I'm afraid of spiders," he innocently answers.

You burst into laughter and have a hard time swallowing your food after, you wash it down with your Tequila soda to help.

"But I'm not sure I wanted to erase it though," Hyunjin adds, adding more alcohol to his mug.

You give up on finishing your pizza slice and put it back in the box, "Why is that so?"

"That day, I found out I'm allergic to spider venom," he answers.

You scrunch your nose in perplexity because it's bad experiences, one after another and he chooses not to erase it,

"Why not?"

"Then I would forget that I'm allergic to it," he simply answers.

You don't get enough explanation from him so you keep looking at him with a questioning look on your face.

"What if I get bitten by a spider again and I don't have the knowledge that I'm allergic to spider venom?" Hyunjin lays out a scenario for you.

"Well, yeah..." you nod in agreement as the logic in his answer registered into your head.

"I could have died," Hyunjin dramatically adds with a squeeze on your shoulder.

"I get it, I get it," you answer, half chuckling at him.

Hyunjin takes a long sip of his drink and gasps once he swallows it all down. He leans on the counter and leaves not so much space between your faces.

"But think about it..." he says.

You nod, ready to listen to what he's about to say.

"Life would be boring if we only remember the good memories," he says.

That simple notion speaks so much and when you think Hyunjin couldn't be more profound than that, he comes with another remark.

"There wouldn't be good moments in the first place without the bad ones too."

Hyunjin lets a moment pass in silence to let those words sink into your head and you're indeed still processing them. He makes a good point that you can't add anything to that. You can't believe that Hyunjin has left you speechless.

But looking at the test subject, going through the procedure to have their bad memories erased doesn't mean that they're being cowardly. They have must thought these things through before deciding to volunteer as a test subject.

“But when you look at babies, they’re so pure and free because they come into this world with no memories. And adults are… a mess. They’re sad, depressed, and anxious and have phobias, and Professor Seungmin, he makes them all go away,” You deliver your opinion.

Hyunjin nods in agreement and that regardless of everyone’s stand on whether they want to erase their memories or not, the work all of you are doing here helps people.

-

"They're on their sixth, yes," Hyunjin speaks into the phone as Seungmin calls the office for a status check.

"Vitals?" He glances at you.

You hurriedly hover to the other end of the desk to check and give him a thumbs-up.

"Pulse rate, respiration, BP, all stable," he informs.

The call ends in the next second and Hyunjin places the handle of the phone down, he leans against the desk, panting as if he has just run a mile. It seems like you both have sobered down after munching on pizza together. You exchange a look at each other and break into a smile at the same time.

"Card game?" Hyunjin offers.

"Sure."

You can taste the imbalance of the alcohol and juice ratio you put into your mug but you need it to fuel yourself for the card game.

Hyunjin shuffles the card in his hands and splits the deck into two even stacks, he pushes one at you and draws the other closer to him.

"Whoever draws the smaller card value, loses," he explains the game rules.

You take a gulp of your drink and ask, "And when I lose...?"

He ties his hair into a ponytail and puts his hand on top of his card stack, "Whoever loses has to take a piece of their clothing off," he says with a devilish smirk that makes him more attractive.

It's obvious that Hyunjin has been wanting to play this game, the excitement is drawn on his face and somehow, it makes him more adorable, you can't help but smile.

"Are you sure you split the card evenly?" You jokingly accuse.

"You're welcome to shuffle your cards if you want," Hyunjin calmly responds, then sips his canned soda.

You laugh at how he gives you the side eyes, "When do we start?"

"Eager, are we?" Hyunjin says that it's him who's been anticipating this.

Hyunjin rubs his hands together before placing his hand on top of his deck of cards and pinches a card in between his fingers.

"Ready?" He asks.

You slide the cards down the table and intensely look at each other before turning it over, revealing the cards at the same time. A gasp escapes your mouth as your 7 of Heart card beats his 2 of spades. You prop a hand under your chin and wait for him to do his punishment as he lost this round.

It doesn't faze him, he takes his sweater off and tosses it onto the empty chair next to him. He's wearing a plain white t-shirt underneath and he rolls the short sleeves up to his shoulders, exposing the muscles on his arms.

The next round is won by Hyunjin as his 9 of hearts card beats your 6 of spades. You calmly take your blouse off and hang it on the back of your chair.

Your Jack of Diamonds forces Hyunjin to remove his t-shirt next and you didn't expect him to have a toned body considering that you always find him sitting on his chair and working in front of the computer. You try not to be obvious that you're ogling him but he catches you looking already, so...

"And you've been hiding that under your oversized clothes?" You poke fun at him.

He coyly shrugs in response to you and tidies his deck of cards, "Want to switch decks?"

It seems like a trap because your cards have been doing good and switching decks may switch your luck too.

"No. I like my cards," you refuse his offer with a smile.

He shrugs again and this time, his Jack of Clubs won against your Ace of Diamonds. He triumphantly smiles and crosses his arms watching you getting off your chair to unzip your skirt. You take a step away from the counter to shimmy the skirt down your legs. It feels wrong to be this exposed in the pantry of your workplace.

"You sure you don't want to switch?" He offers again with a lopsided grin.

It's tempting but you trust that your cards will bring you luck, you shake your head and take another card from the top of the stack.

"How about I reveal my card first?" Hyunjin daringly offers.

"Okay, sure," you coyly agree, letting him flip open his card first.

His long fingers are holding the edge of the card and at once, he turns it over, revealing a 9 of hearts. It is supposed to be easy to get a card higher than that. Oddly, you suddenly lost the confidence you had in your cards a minute ago. You put on a calm face and flip the card, not looking at it until you let go of your hand.

"Fuck!" You lowly curse at your 7 of clubs.

You let out a low sigh as you’re about to do your punishment and reach your hand to the back to unclasp your bra. You maintain eye contact with Hyunjin as you let the bra straps slide down your shoulders. In one swift moment, you take the bra off and let it join your pile of clothes on the back of your chair. You lean back and see Hyunjin smiling ear to ear.

"Christmas came early for you, huh, Hwang Hyunjin?"

It doesn't even bother him that you called him by his full name which he dislikes. He's enjoying his triumph, his tongue is slightly sticking out on the corner of his mouth as he smiles.

"I think it is," he says.

Instead of showing him your defeat, you feel motivated to win the next round. You put all of your hair to one side and lean onto the table, slapping the next card on the table.

"Want to raise the bet?" You challenge him.

One of his eyebrows raises in intrigue, "What are you proposing?"

"Whoever loses next has to take two pieces of clothing," you answer with a daring smirk.

It's a fair game since Hyunjin has only his jeans and his underwear on and so are you, with your tights and underwear.

"Let's raise the bet," Hyunjin calls to your bluff.

"I'll reveal my card first," you dare yourself even though you have no idea what card you're keeping under your hand.

"Be my guest," Hyunjin delightfully says.

You hold his gaze and flip the card, surprising yourself with a Queen of hearts. You can almost taste that sweet victory knowing that Hyunjin needs a King to beat your card. However, Hyunjin is looking nowhere near your card and you know well enough where he is looking.

You purposely lean forward on the table, presenting him a clearer view of your chest then tap your fingers on the table, "Ground control to Major Tom!" You summon his consciousness back to reality.

After a while, he finally looks away and immediately takes a sip of his can of soda to gain some sense back into his head.

"It's your turn," you remind him, propping a hand under your chin and waiting for the grand reveal.

Hyunjin clears his throat and puts his focus back on his card, he's fiddling with his card. He realizes that he's in a predicament.

He holds the card in his hand and tosses it upward, showing a Jack of Heart which means you won this round. You take a sip of your drink in celebration and victory indeed tastes so sweet.

Hyunjin reluctantly gets off his chair, he finishes his can of soda first before reaching for the waistband of his jeans. He begins by unbuckling his belt then slowly, he unzips the fly of his jeans and it's instantly loosening around his dainty waist.

"Wait, wait," you abruptly interrupt him from his stripping show.

You get off your chair and lean your side against the counter, "On a second thought... you can keep your pants on," you say.

Hyunjin looks rather flabbergasted by the turn of the event, he stands there with his jeans hanging open, "You can't do that!" He protests.

You calmly sip your drink and reply, "Oh, yes, I can."

Hyunjin rests his hands on the counter and looks at you, "You have to see!" He insists with his eyebrows furrowed.

You shake your head and pretend to not care, "Nah. I'm losing interest."

He takes a step closer at you, "Once you see, you will be interested," he boldly remarks with a cocky smirk.

You scoff and put down your empty mug, "Still not interested," you shake your head again.

Hyunjin inhales air and places his hands on each side of his waist, "You have to see!"

"No!" You refuse while half laughing.

You see Hyunjin about to take another step toward you but before he can do that, you turn to leave the pantry.

"You have to see!" He shouts as he follows you.

"No!" You shout back and immediately break into a run. 

You're squealing as he chases you but you know well enough that you will likely lose against his long legs. That doesn't stop you from running, holding your breasts with your hands as you make a turn in the direction of the staff lounge and Hyunjin catches you right as you're about to enter.

With the absence of lights, you can see the glimmer of the city lights from afar.

Hyunjin pushes you to the wall, he grabs both of your hands and pins them above your head as he presses his nose into your ear.

"I got you now," his breath feels hot in your ear.

When you tilt your head to look at him, his lips immediately capture you in a kiss, a kiss that consumes you whole and makes you feel hot all over.

He drops your hands around his neck and that way, he can freely roam your body, feeling the smoothness of your skin under his fingertips.

He puts his arms around you and draws you impossibly close while his mouth is busy lathering yours, his tongue is prying open your mouth, wanting to taste you more and more.

As much as you want to keep kissing him, you have to let go to catch some air and fill your lungs with oxygen.

Yet Hyunjin uses the opportunity to kiss you somewhere else, dragging his plush lips down the column to your neck, and from there, he starts a trail of kisses down your front.

He kneels in front of you with his fingers tugged at the elastic band of your black tights, he looks up at you and in the dark, you can see his eyes like two gleaming marbles.

Slowly, he pulls the tights down and you hear the faint whimpers escaping his mouth as he keeps pulling it down your legs.

The silence that hangs in the room only intensifies the tension, it's so quiet that you can hear your ragged breath as Hyunjin successfully takes your tights off.

He keeps looking at you with his wide, lustful eyes as his hands climb up your legs. He slowly leans in, landing a soft kiss on your inner thigh to earn a low whimper out of you.

Wanting to hear that soft whimper again, Hyunjin places another kiss on the other one, higher and closer to where you want him the most.

Just like he reads through your mind, Hyunjin drags his mouth higher and kisses your clothed core. You grab a fistful of his hair as he presses another kiss with his nose rubbing against your clothed core and then he softly inhales air.

The breath he lets out between your legs feels hot and it sets your body alight with desire yet you feel more alive in this heat.

Hyunjin opens his mouth wider and takes more of you, his wet mouth dampens the thin fabric of your underwear and all you can do is whimper at how erotic this very scene is.

Then he stuck his tongue out and starts to trace your clit through the fabric, repeatedly running his tongue in circles that it begins to pulsate under his slick tongue.

Your legs are wobbling and you can only hold onto his head and shoulder to keep you steady as he keeps his mouth buried between your legs.

Impatient to taste you, Hyunjin puts your underwear to the side and lifts your leg, putting it over his shoulder so he can dive deep into your wetness.

You keep your back close to the wall with your hands in his dark locks, tugging at it when the pleasure gets too overwhelming.

"Oh!" You gasp as Hyunjin inserts one digit inside you and not long after that, he adds another digit.

His fingers and mouth are moving in sync to give you immense pleasure, making the knot in your stomach tighten and your hands tugging harder at his hair.

Unknowingly, your hips start moving against his mouth, riding his face as you please as your hands keep his head between your legs.

"I'm close, oh, I'm close!" You breathlessly tell him with your eyes barely focused on him.

Hyunjin opens his mouth wider and runs his tongue between your folds before sucking on your clit, taking you to your high so that a loud moan falls out of your open mouth and echoes in the room.

Mischievous, Hyunjin teases you by touching your sensitive bundle of nerves, lightly circling it with only his fingertips.

"You're having fun, huh?" You look down at him and gently twist his ear as a way to get back to him.

In the dim light, you can see he's grinning at you with his face wet around the mouth from your essence. You pat his head and place his hand on the strap of your underwear.

"Help me take this off, mmh?" You seductively ask, turning around on your feet to face the wall.

Hyunjin wastes no time tugging his fingers on the waistband of your underwear and pulls the soaked underwear down, then off your legs.

You shiver as his fingers lightly graze the side of your thighs and the back of your legs. As you press the side of your face on the cold surface of the wall, Hyunjin starts placing kisses on the back of your thighs and he goes upward.

Eventually, his mouth lands on your ass cheek and he playfully bites at it, letting out a laugh knowing that you enjoy it.

"Go ahead. Bite the other one," you encourage him with a laugh.

He's going to do it with or without your permission anyway as he immediately bites the other cheek. From there, he continues his trail of kisses up to the nape of your neck.

His arms around you, touching your body and kneading on your breasts as his mouth busy planting ferocious kisses on your neck and shoulders.

It's rather sensual that he pinned your naked body against the wall when he still has his jeans on yet you can feel his member poking through the fabric and rubbing against your rear.

"Mmh..." you hum as his fingers circle your nipple.

You turn your head to the side only to let him capture your lips in a hungry kiss where his teeth almost collide with yours.

"Ouch!" You yelp as he pinches on your nipple while he smiles in satisfaction.

You turn around to face him and put your arms around him, not worrying that you'll fall when you have his arms tightly wrapped around you.

Without breaking the kiss, you maneuver his body, pushing him in the direction of the sofa until he finds himself plopping down and you let yourself sit on his lap.

You take a moment to catch a breath and look at him, seeing him this up close, in this light, hit differently. With the moonlight shining through the big window and casting a glow on his head, Hyunjin looks so ethereal.

"You're so beautiful," Hyunjin says, taking the word out of your mouth.

You smile at his praise and lean in to deliver your gratitude with a kiss, a kiss that takes things further. As your lips are busy lathering his, your hand makes its way down his body and slides it into his boxer.

You delightfully hum against his lips as you wrap your hand around his swollen member which you take out of its confine, letting his erection sprung free.

With your own eyes, you can see how impressive his size is and glance at him, "Now I know you bought the right size," you mutter with a seductive smile.

"Told you," Hyunjin says with a sexy smirk.

You sit close to his crotch, wanting to feel his cock against your cunt and wetting it with your essence while you keep stroking at it.

"I uh..." Hyunjin's words trail off as you rub his tip with your thumb.

"Yes?" You breathlessly ask.

"I have to get the uh... I have to get the condom," he stammers, almost couldn't finish the sentence as you rub his tip between your folds.

"You said you're okay doing it raw with me," you tease.

He drops his head to the back and you can see him swallow air with the way his Adam's apple bobs in his throat. He then shakes his head, "Don't think that's a good idea."

You tip your head to the side and pout, "Why not? I'm on the pill."

Hyunjin shakes his head again, he stands firm on his principle even in the trying of times. You cup his jaw and then plant a long peck on his lips.

"Go get that condom," you mutter.

He slowly opens his eyes as you pull away from the kiss, "You're not going to change your mind, right?"

You softly laugh at his words and even though you feel bad to tease him more, you can't help yourself.

"Uhm... maybe, I don't know," you jokingly say with a shrug.

He grips at your waist and pouts, his lower lip jutting out more than his upper lip. He's so adorable that you can't stop yourself from pecking his lips again.

You get off his lap and sit on the sofa, "I won't change my mind," you tell him.

Hyunjin can't shoot up from the sofa faster, sending his jeans drops and pools around his ankle, he hurriedly kicks it away, "I'll be back in a minute," he says.

-

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[local-idiotic-texan]

UHHWISHEOEBEL SO.. UHM.. PEKELN UHMM OKAY I'LL DO THIS ANOTHER POST

Filler post for now though!! AHEM!! SITE-61 AND IT'S DEPARTMENTS ARE WEIRD:

Security Department - First Line of Defense. The On-Site Guard. The Security Force.

Class-D - The test subjects :3

Scientific Department - Your doctore. The fuckin NEEEEERRRRDDDDSSSS!!!

Medical Department - Your LITERAL Doctores. ALSO NERDS!!!!

Physiology Department - EW THERAPISTS

Mobile Task Force - The guys who do the same thing as Field Agents except they also fight in proxy wars against GoIs for The Foundation :3

Nine Tailed Fox - YOU NEVER WANNA HEAR THESE GUYS BE ACTIVE. SOMETHING WENT ABSOLUTELY WRONG IF YOU HEAR OR SEE THEM GET DEPLOYED. THEY GO INSIDE SITES. NOT OUT OF THEM. INTO THEM.

Foundation Personnel - Basically every single person. If you don't apply for a department, this is what you're in.

Field Crew - It's a department nobody's actually in forever. You get assigned to a temporary crew, and then either get the weapons to go hunt someone or something down (Field Agents) or are assigned something to study or capture that's put in the wild. (Field Researchers)

Janitorial Staff - Clean up the messes personnel and anomalies leave behind.

Custodial Staff - NEVER MISTAKE THEM FOR THE JANITORIAL CREW OR THEY WILL GIVE YOU MOP WATER. The people who work the mess halls, canteens, cafeterias, whatever you call them? They're the chefs behind it all. They're also in charge pf emergency rationing of water and food, providing anomalies with their meals, and more! :)

Internal Security Department - Site Directors, basically. Make sure things are running correctly.

The O5 Council - "but that's not a department!! 🥺" WRONG!!! IT'S THEIR REPRESENTATIVES! THEIR PERSONAL ADVISORS! THEIR SECRETARIES AND ASSISTANTS! HELL, EVEN THE RED RIGHT HAND IS PART OF THIS DEPARTMENT OF THE SAME NAME!

Board of Classification - One per Object Class. A group of people who determine which object gets what object class, why, and how to contain said object. Case. by. case.

Intelligence Agency - Spies, scouts, and bugs for The Foundation. Usually former theater kids.

Ethics Committee - Make sure morals aren't being broken. Surprisingly? Both the strongest and weakest department. Capable of overthrowing The Administrator if support for the cause is UNANIMOUS but also have to find a workaround to "FOR A SCIENCE!!"

Theology Department - Bunch of religious people. Study scripture. Build chapels into their locations, even when it's unauthorized.

Monitoring Committee - FUCKING SNITCHES. "The Ethics Committee is the worst!! 🙄" WRONG!! MONITORING COMMITTEE. FUCKING "O5's Eyes and Ears" IS THEIR NICKNAME THEY FUCKING SNITCH ALL THE GODDAMN TIME OHMYGOD I FUCKING HATE THEM ALL I HOPE THEY DIE

Paedology Committee - Started FROM Site-61, actually! Dedicated to Anomalous Children getting a fucking normal childhood, and a good education! Board of Education, basically. :)

Maintenance and Repair Crew - Makes sure Site Infrastructure is maintained.

Internal Technician Department - Screams because "my computer won't turn on ://" and it's just because you haven't charged it.

Library of Records - Look around in Foundation History to archive lost files, updates records and files ranging from minute details about a person's life to major breakthroughs in Foundation and GoI History!

Federal Administration - World Governments and Politics found out about 2012 :( LUCKILY!! Not that political in Site-61 (as a series). Most members ARE politicians or representatives of their local areas, but sometimes (like the characters who are part of this department in Site-61!!) They're just random civilians who got accepted into The Foundation AS "politicians" so now they're stuck in their offices making legislature or whatever.

Department of Public Affairs - The Public found out about 2012 :( LUCKILY!! This department exists! It's mostly full of retirement-aged people (60 - 80) who wanna still receive a paycheck so all they do in exchange is represent The Foundation out in public and approve of what the public can and cannot do with the information they have about certain anomalies

yeah :3

[darkdemeter]

SCP 3456.2 are a group of 4 individuals that replaced the former SCP 3456 upon encounter and eventual termination, which had brought the attention of the SCP Foundation. Each has their own names, Death, Strife, Fury, and War. SCP 3456.2 A is classified as Death. 3456.2 B is classified as Strife. 3456.2 C is classified as Fury. 3456.2 D is classified as War. SCP 3456.2 is officially classified as Thaumiel Class though in some cases could be Apollyon Class. Further files on A,B,C,D can be found.

It was a miraculous discovery for the Foundation. SCP-3456 instances were extreme yet fascinating to document. Accounted reports from field agents and researchers have given intel but there is something more to these anomalies. However, it seems we will never know anything more about these instances since their announced termination.

The last dated report of SCP-3456 was submitted to the SCP Foundation ministry office detailing another surveillance site being activated by the instances. Several had materialised into this phase existence at once and occupied a considerable amount of territory due to their relative size of gigantism. Among their numbers were the large ones. Appropriate measures were taken as per field and subject’s protocol to remain at a distance where observation was achievable yet as discreet as possible.

SCP-3456 has shown to not be discriminatory towards its targets and will engage in hunting at a predatory level if given the chance and motivation. During one of these suspected expeditions undertaken by SCP-3456, the materialised instances were intercepted and resulted in failure in gathering sufficient amount of subjects.

Victims involved have been treated thoroughly to erase any cases of the known side effects after being exposed to SCP-3456.

Instances were chased back, seeming to appear distressed at an imposing threat. With further investigations led in the field, it was discovered that another undocumented specimen type entered the general vicinity in which SCP-3456 had been sighted. Four in total have been accounted for and have been classified accordingly as SCP-3456-2 due to the likeness of the predecessor subject.

Field agents and accompanying staff of the Foundation were not able to witness what exactly transpired between the two countering groups but it's likely suspected (due to data and evidential samples collected) that SCP-3456-2 was responsible for complete termination of the prior subject.

Extreme levels of caution must be taken but it is likely that an encounter may have to take place if any further evidence is to be recorded as to what befell SCP-3456.

FIELD LOG -- UPDATE:

Contact has been made between Foundation agents and SCP-3456-2. Intended duration of encounter faulted and immediate evacuation was determined necessary for the team's safety. Undeterminable exact reasoning behind this occurrence, though it's heavily likely that SCP-3456-S perceived the team as a threat. It's unsure to say for now whether any other meeting will occur soon. Engagement had agents observe and attempt close-quarter contact with SCP-3456-2 who sat mounted astride uniquely appearing equines. The four figures appear not to be attached torsos that morph in disfigurement from their steeds, instead able to possibly dismount and traverse ground on foot.

VOICE LOG #32 -- 1:17AM / 1:45:49

(recording begins with a wiry scratch followed by a resounding pop. A female voice speaks quietly into the device's microphone)

Agent ---: We heard... uh, w-we heard... movement. It's... almost a quarter past one in the morning. We heard them pacing the perimeter consecutively every night, getting closer each time. They were just moving across the higher ledge point to the West side of our encampment. I... lost track of the subjects but if I am to make my assumptions here before I die, its that... they've come to make contact.

(The agent's voice leans in closer, whispering into the speaker)

Agent ---: They've been watching us...

(The audio crackles with what's believed to be the scream of the female agent and the audio shuts off, ending the recording)

Another team accompanied by MTFs was deployed within three days of no confirmation from the field agents. Upon reaching the MIA team's camp, it was found in a state of wreckage. No survivors were located among the damage or in the general vicinity. Foundation tools and equipment was found destroyed, visible blood trails and markings confirm that all members of the team have been terminated. The recording was the only obtainable and functioning piece of evidence that was able to give insight to what occurred.

Based on study analysis from our anthrozoology experts, their information primarily suggests that SCP-3456-2 is sapient and functions with high level of intelligence. They also surmise that the aggression used behind an attack at this scale was intended from the beginning and that this being an escalated event is highly implausible.

SCP-3456-2 is currently classed as Keter until further research can be conducted and hopefully, more neutral contact can be made. Log will be updated as soon as either the former or latter come to pass.

[whumble-beeee]

Stan McKellen (22)

(character intro 2 of 4 for the (Un)Official Guide Series!)

he/him, 5’4

Alias(es): [deadname], Stanford

Powers?: Has the ability to absorb and redirect energy to move and manipulate physical objects, much like the colloquially known ‘telekinesis’.

>> Power Level: 4

(More info under the cut)

>> Social Designation: Blue– Test Subject | Black– Currently incarcerated for power-related crimes. Learn more here.

>> Stan's bloodline is the only known case in which powers are passed down genetically, instead of seemingly randomly as with the rest of the human species. This makes him very intriguing to interested parties.

Background: Doesn’t seem to have any official public records. It's as if he didnt exist. Thankfully, we know better! Stan lived a more or less normal childhood with his two parents and sister, Chloe McKellen, up until his early teens, when he and his parents were captured to be experimented on by Supramed Research Corp., seemingly for their unique powers. The sister was somehow saved from capture and covertly placed with her grandparents, while the parents haven’t been heard from since their initial capture. In captivity, Stan gained a myriad of mental and physical disabilities, including PTSD and extreme knee and hip joint weakness. He managed to escape and reunited with his sister and grandparents, but an incident with the police ended with six SWAT casualties and Stan escaping and taking his sister to live on the run. He now has no other known living relatives. He and his sister have since been living a semi-normal life in hiding with Stan's fiancé, Marcus Silva, up until his most recent recapture. It seems that this time he is of a much higher priority, and he might not be so lucky as to escape.

Extra Note(s):

Transgender female-to-male. All files have been updated to reflect this.

Uses a magical heirloom cane to both enhance his powers and aid mobility.

Try not to engage. It’s not his fault, but he attracts trouble wherever he goes.

His story!: The (Un)Official Guide to Hero-Keeping, a self-help guide for super-villains and bounty hunters

Taglist: @flowersarefreetherapy | @pirefyrelight | @cakeinthevoid | @painsandconfusion | @books-are-everything

@paperprinxe | @tippytappytyping | @chaotic-orphan | @notactuallyluska

[hannibalxhopskins]

tSOTL & Red Dragon Dialogue Similarities (I’m aware Ted Tally also wrote the script for Red Dragon)

#1: Jack Crawford (to Clarice on Lecter): “I don't expect him to talk to you.”

Will Graham (on Lecter): “If you think there's any chance he'll talk to me...I'll go myself.”

#2: Dr. Chilton (to Clarice on Lecter): “From a research point of view, Lecter is our most prized asset.”

Dr. Chilton (to Will on Lecter): “As a research subject, Lecter has proven most disappointing.”

#3: Dr. Chilton (to Clarice on Lecter): “We've tried to study him, but he's much too sophisticated for the standard tests.”

Dr. Chilton (to Will on Lecter): “He's simply impenetrable to psychological testing.”

#4: Will Graham (to Lecter): “You'll either do it or you won't.”

Clarice Starling (to Lecter): “I'm only asking you to look at this. Either you will or you won't.”

#5: Dr. Lecter (to Clarice): “I might if I saw the case file. You could get that for me.”

Dr. Lecter (to Will): “Is that the case file? With photos? Let me keep them, and I might consider it.”

#6: Dr. Lecter (to Will): “And that blackout was an especially nice touch.”

Dr. Lecter (to Clarice): “That was an especially nice touch, Clarice.”

#7: Will Graham (to Lecter): “One hour a week under supervision, of course... but is a one-time offer. It expires the minute I walk out of here.”

Clarice Starling (to Lecter): “One week of the year, you get to leave the hospital and go here. Plum lsland. Every day of that week you may walk on the beach, you may swim in the ocean, for up to one hour, under SWAT team surveillance, of course. This offer is non-negotiable and final. Catherine Martin dies, you get nothing.”

#8: Will Graham (to Lecter): “I'm waiting, Doctor. Or maybe you've got nothing left to sell.”

Dr. Lecter (to Clarice): “It is your turn to tell me, Clarice. You don't have any more vacations to sell.”

#9: Dr. Lecter (to Will): “Look for a military record with combat training. Look for extensive tattooing...and corrective surgery, most likely to the face.”

Dr. Lecter (to Clarice): “Look for severe childhood disturbances associated with violence.”

#10: Ardelia Mapp (to Clarice): “Dr. Lecter said a lot of things.”

Jack Crawford: Lecter says a lot of things.

#11: Dr. Lecter: (to Clarice) “Our Billy wasn't born a criminal, Clarice. He was made one through years of systematic abuse.”

Will Graham: “He wasn't born a monster. This guy was made one through years of abuse.”

[mrcatfishing]

SCPBOT: 1-800-SPA-GETI

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Foundation web crawlers are to monitor all telecommunications databases, social media platforms, and digital publications for any instance of the phone number 1-800-SPA-GETI (1-800-772-4384). When identified, Foundation agents embedded in telecommunications companies are to isolate the number and designate it as non-functional within their systems.

Physical media containing SCP-XXXX's number must be confiscated and incinerated. Cover stories relating to consumer fraud or telemarketing scams are to be deployed as necessary. Civilians who have attempted to contact SCP-XXXX are to be identified through telecommunications records and interviewed to determine exposure level.

Individuals exhibiting Stage 2 or Stage 3 linguistic alterations (see Description) are to be detained at the nearest Foundation medical facility and placed under observation. Treatment protocols include targeted speech therapy, specialized anti-memetic cognitive exercises, and administration of amnestics once stabilized. Long-term cases resistant to treatment are to be relocated to Site-17's Linguistic Rehabilitation Wing under the care of Dr. Harmon's research team.

All Foundation personnel investigating SCP-XXXX must use specialized filtering equipment when analyzing audio recordings of calls to prevent secondary exposure. No staff member is to attempt direct contact with SCP-XXXX without Level 3 clearance and prior approval.

Description: SCP-XXXX is an anomalous telephone number (1-800-SPA-GETI) that, when dialed, initiates progressive degradation of the caller's language processing abilities. The number appears to function normally within telecommunications networks despite having no registered owner or physical infrastructure.

When called, SCP-XXXX connects after exactly three rings. Callers report hearing what initially sounds like a standard automated restaurant order system, but with slight grammatical inconsistencies. As the call progresses, these inconsistencies become more pronounced, and the speech patterns become increasingly disordered. Audio analysis of calls has confirmed that no actual entity exists on the other end of the line; rather, the caller's own language centers appear to be generating the perceived "responses."

Exposure to SCP-XXXX manifests in three distinct stages:

Stage 1 (1-3 minutes of exposure): Subjects begin incorporating random food-related terminology into their speech, particularly Italian cuisine terms. Speech remains largely coherent but shows increasing signs of syntactic degradation. Example: "I need to file these reports before pasta noon meeting with the director marinara."

Stage 2 (3-5 minutes of exposure): Language structure breaks down more severely. Subjects maintain basic comprehension but speak in fragmented sentences with randomized phonetic elements and misplaced culinary references. Food-related gestures may accompany speech. Subjects often express confusion about their own verbal output.

Stage 3 (5+ minutes of exposure): Complete linguistic restructuring occurs. Subjects become unable to communicate in any recognized language, instead producing a hybrid communication system that combines cooking instructions, food orders, and nonsensical phonemes. In severe cases, subjects become fixated on preparing pasta dishes despite lacking proper ingredients or equipment.

Recovery time varies based on exposure duration. Stage 1 exposure typically resolves within 24-48 hours without intervention. Stage 2 requires specialized therapy but has shown 86% recovery rates. Stage 3 has proven resistant to conventional treatment, with only 23% of subjects regaining normal linguistic function.

Addendum XXXX-1: Discovery

SCP-XXXX was discovered following reports from the Chicago Police Department regarding an unusual cluster of emergency calls from individuals exhibiting "bizarre speech patterns." Foundation agents embedded in local law enforcement identified a pattern when all affected individuals were found to have recently contacted the same phone number, advertised on flyers as "Chicago's Premier Italian Delivery Service."

Addendum XXXX-2: Interview Log

The following is a transcript of an interview with J. Mercer, a Stage 2 recovery patient, 48 hours after exposure to SCP-XXXX.

Dr. Fenton: Can you describe what happened when you called the number?

J. Mercer: I was just trying to order dinner, you know? The parmesan picked up and it sounded normal at first, just your standard "thank you for calling" but then it started asking me really weird questions.

Dr. Fenton: What kind of questions?

J. Mercer: Something about… [pauses] sorry, my brain feels al dente. [shakes head] I mean foggy. It asked if I wanted to "incorporate the sauce" and then something about "accepting the full menu into my vocabulary." I thought it was just a weird marketing thing.

Dr. Fenton: And you stayed on the line?

J. Mercer: Yeah, I was hungry! [laughs] Ravioli… I mean, really hungry. The longer I listened, the more it started to make sense, like it was teaching me a new way to speak that was more… efficient? More delicious? [Subject appears frustrated] Sorry, I don't know why I keep saying these things.

Dr. Fenton: That's alright. Were you aware of the changes to your speech while they were happening?

J. Mercer: Not until my roommate came in and looked at me like I was crazy. Apparently, I was standing there with the phone, reciting what sounded like a recipe but with all the nouns replaced with people's names. [pause] I still crave linguini when I talk too much.

Note: Subject made full recovery after two weeks of therapy.

Addendum XXXX-3: Ongoing Investigation

Analysis of SCP-XXXX's effects suggests it may be an experimental memetic vector rather than a typical cognito-hazard. The structured progression of symptoms and food-specific lexical insertions indicate deliberate design. Research is ongoing to determine whether SCP-XXXX is connected to any known Groups of Interest, particularly those with interests in linguistic manipulation or memetic engineering.

[jokertrap-ran]

[Stand My Heroes] Case File:研究対象Sの記録 (Case File: Records on Research Subject S) Event Story: Investigation ①～③ Translations

*Master-list is in progress *MC name is retained default Izumi Rei

Part 1 / Part 2 

--I might have been born into this world as a “Being”, but… I do not know the contact of “Others”

“Humans” are also something that I cannot comprehend due to how absurd they are.

That’s why…That’s precisely why, I—

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Interrogation Room ☆⋅⋆

Arakida: I’m asking you if you abducted and confined eight people in an underground facility.

Male Suspect: …I apologize for that. I just wanted to see how they’d turn out in the very end.

Arakida: --

Male Suspect: I mean, aren’t you curious about it too, Mr. Officer?

Male Suspect: Aren’t you curious about what they might be hiding? About the reason fuelling them to attempt escape from the underground facility?

Male Suspect: Is it family? A lover? Friends? Their job? Interests? Or is it a promise they made?

Male Suspect: That reason only exists because they’re “Human”. But what if you were only a “Being”? Isn’t fleeing an instinct?

Male Suspect: I was simply gathering reference material for my next new work under the pen name of “Benio. SF. Takeshi”!

Sugano: (Whew, this guy’s really screwed up in the head.)

Arakida: --Real name: Akao Takeshi. So, you’re admit that you’ve confined these people.

Male Suspect: Like I was saying! I’ve only done this all in light of attaining material for my next sublime masterpiece—

Arakida: …I know of such writers who do that, but you’re a totally different case.

Sugano: (Seems like this’ll be a long and gruelling process…)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Investigation Planning Division ☆⋅⋆

Natsume: --Oh? They say that the writer “Benio. SF. Takeshi” has been arrested.

Aoyama & Yui: Benio…?

Rei: Is that a pen-name…?

Natsume: That’s right. Seems like hhis real name’s “Akao Takeshi (28)”

Natsume: Arrested on grounds of Kidnapping, Assault and Attempted Murder.

Natsume: He’s a pretty popular young author out there. He’s even No.1 Trending on Social Media.

Rei: Heh…Oh, you’re right. He’s even on the top when I search him up on the net.

I clicked on the records we had on him on my laptop. The words “Investigation Department One” entered my field of vision.

Yui: …I see. “New Generation Writer SF, someone who’s works can also be enjoyed by the Young Generation.”

Aoyama: This is the first time I’m hearing of him, though.

Imaoji: It seems like he first gained popularity through publishing a series of short stories on the net.

Natsume: His popular work’s a science fiction set in the near future where a guy eats the female as a part of the mating routine…ugh.

Aoyama: What morbid taste.

Rei: “His motive was to gather reference material for his new work, and he admitted as such during interrogation.” –Or so it’s written here.

Yui: Looks like the eight people he kept captive all managed to escape just fine.

Natsume: It’s also written here that one of the eight people held captive managed to escape and made it to the nearest Police Box in the area.

Imaoji: Wow.

Rei: The guy who escaped also provided his motive for escaping the place during an interrogation.

Aoyama: “It’s my Wedding Anniversary, so I absolutely had to get out of there”, huh.

Rei: That’s a pretty romantic reason, all things considered.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

The conversation ended with us coming to a joint conclusion; no matter what had gone down in that place, it was a good thing that all the victims managed to escape unscathed.

--A few days later.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Inside the Car ☆⋅⋆

Seki: I’m sure you must be tired from walking around all morning. Should we grab lunch somewhere before heading back? My treat.

Seki-san and I had spent the entire early afternoon investigating the area where a new drug was rumoured to have been circulating.

Rei: Thank you so much! I think I’m starting to get a little hungry.

Seki: We’ve been at it all morning after all; good work. We’ve managed to attain some remarkable information so let’s go get a good meal.

Seki: Is there anything you’d like to eat?

Rei: Let’s see…I think I’ll settle for something Japanese. A set meal, maybe?

Seki: Nice. Seems like there are lots of stores around here that sell those too.

Rei: That’s right. It caught my eye when I saw it through the car’s windscreen.

Seki: ----The one over by the traffic light seems like it has a carpark.

“Exquisite Set Meals, 700 Yen~” I caught sight of the flag sparkling under the sun.

Rei: I’m rather interested in whatever their Exquisite Set Meal is.

Seki: Shall we settle for that shop then?

Rei: Okay!

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Izakaya ☆⋅⋆

Shop-keeper: Welcome! How many people?

Seki: Two…

Rei: (It’s pretty crowded in here…)

The store wasn’t very big and one could see that it was a full-house at a single glance.

Shop-keeper: Sorry, will a shared seating be alright with you?

I met Seki-san’s gaze and affirmed him that “I’m okay with that” with a nod.

Seki: We’ll take that, thank you.

Shop-keeper: Thank you very much! Two people; shared seating!

I could hear joyful and enthusiastic calls of “Welcome!” from coming from the kitchen area as we headed to our seats. And then--

Sugano: --AH.

Rei: Ah.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Izakaya ☆⋅⋆

Sugano-kun and Asagiri-san were seated at the table we were led to.

Seki: What a coincidence.

Asagiri: Indeed. Feel free.

Saying that, they both stood up from where they were seated and moved further in to allow us space to join them.

Rei: Thank you so much.

We proceeded to seat ourselves at the table, only to realize that that said table was devoid of food.

Rei: Did you just arrive?

Asagiri: What sharp inference skills you have. That’s right.

Sugano: The Seasonal Set Meals here are really good and they change every season.

Seki: I’m guessing that that’d be the Fried Oyster Set right now?

Sugano: Yup. It’s crunchy and juicy and absolutely delectable!

Rei: Ahh…I can already taste and feel the oysters.

Sugano: Haha. But the Scallop and Ebi Mixed-Fry set is also a pretty bad boy!

Rei: Ahhhh…I can taste the Mixed-fry set already, but my stomach still has the oysters in mind…

Sugano: Haha!

We chatted for a while before an employee came by to serve us water and to hand us wet towels and the menu.

Seki: What are you settling for, Izumi?

Rei: Hmm, I’m still thinking.

Asagiri: I’ll take the Ramen Set.

Sugano: Tsukasa-san, were you even listening to my recommendations?

Asagiri: I’ve actually been craving ramen all morning.

Sugano: Actually, is there even a time where you don’t crave ramen…?

Asagiri: What a stupid question.

Rei: (He really like his ramen…)

In the end, Asagiri-san took the Ramen Set while Seki-san and I took the Fried Oyseter Set. Sugano-kun decided on the Mixed-fry Set and that concluded our order.

Sugano: Oh, come to think of it. There was that one guy in Benio SF’s short stories who loved ramen and was supervising a shady research facility.

Sugano: I recall that he was portrayed to be able to talk for days on end when it comes to anything ramen-related.

Both: ----

Asaigiri: Don’t go giving out investigation information at the drop of a hat like that— Or so, I’d like to say.

Asagiri: But that was something that had already uploaded onto the internet to begin with, isn’t it?

Sugano: That’s right.

Sugano: Rei and Seki-san, have you guys read it before? Benio’s light novel that’s been the talk of the masses recently.

Asagiri: A Science Fiction that takes place in the near future— It’s nice to hear and all but right now, it all boils down to being a criminal’s childish delusions.

Rei: A Science Fiction that takes place in the near future…

Seki: Is that the story that gave birth to his motive as a criminal?

Sugano: Yes…Oh, right. This shop is really thorough in their preparation of food, so it’ll take some time before our food arrives.

Sugano: Shall we talk about his childish delusions as a makeshift way to kill time while we wait? This time in our own style.

Them: ----

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

--This facility was where the “Special Ability Programme” took place.

It also housed “Special Subjects” within its compound. This facility will be…

Watabe: We needed a “Special Communicator” in this place. That’s why I reached out to you with an offer.

Natsume: It’s nice to meet you, Number 1230.

Rei: Am I to be referred to my number at all times…?

Yui: There are a lot of subjects housed here. We’ve also got many communicators like you.

Yui: So it’ll be easier if we just referred to everyone by their serial numbers. It reduces the complications involved.

Rei: …Alright, I understand.

Rei: So…why was I called to this facility?

Yui: Allow me to rephrase your question. “Why is a normal Office Lady (OL) like me who works for an ordinary company-“

Yui: “Being scouted by the Special Research Facility that’s being funded by the National Budget?” --How’s that sound?

Rei: Thank you for translating…

Watabe: The answer’s—

Watabe: Who knows?

Rei: Who knows…?

Watabe: No, sorry. We don’t know what the requirements are when it comes to selecting a communicator.

Natsume: In other words, we only know what the job pertains.

Natsume: Communicators generally face the inmates, in other words you’re going to go up face-to-face with the subjects.

Rei: I’m going up against them? …How is it generally like?

Yui: It’s obvious, don’t you think? You’ll do so with your heart, body, and mind. Basically, you’ll be communicating with them.

Rei: Huh…? I understand the part about the heart, but…wait, what do you mean by body-

Yui: Exactly what I just said.

Rei: --!?

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

Rei: C-Communicating with them with my body…? Regardless if it’s on orders by the country, this is a little…

Rei: I can’t do it! I’ve never met them before in my entire life, and it isn’t even ethical in the first place and—

Watabe: Haha…

Rei: !

Natsume: You’re jumping to conclusions way too quickly.

Yui: Seems like I’ve taken this joke a little too far.

Rei: Joke…?

Watabe: There’s only one job for a communicator,

Watabe: To be chat buddies with the subjects since they cannot leave this facility.

Watabe: It’s a straight-to-the-point job with no questionable ethics in play.

Natsume: Well, you’ll still be eaten whole if you let your guard down in here, though.

Rei: Wha-

Yui: Have you not learnt?

Rei: Ugh…it’s a joke again, isn’t it?

Natsume: Sorry, sorry.

Watabe: You can rest assured. Everyone here isn’t all too different from us who lead normal lives.

Watabe: So you can just talk to them like how you do to everyone without base for suspicion.

Yui: Just treat them like normal humans.

Rei: (The more we talk about it, the more confused I get about what I’m even doing in such a facility…)

Rei: Why are the subjects inmates here anyway? What’s the motive?

???: You’ll best bring that up to the chief.

Rei: Huh…?

???: --

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

Rei: (Who are they…?)

Imaoji: Nice to meet you, No. 1230. I’m Imaoji, the supervisor of this facility.

Asagiri: I’m Asagiri.

Arakida: …Arakida.

Imaoji: We’ll be protecting you from everything and anything while you’re here.

Asagiri: I’ll bring you to the chief.

Arakida: ……

Rei: I’ll be in your care then…

Watabe: See you, No. 1230.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Chief’s Office ☆⋅⋆

Imaoji: --Pardon the intrusion.

Arakida: We’ve brought. No. 1230.

???: Right on time, I see.

Seki: Glad to see that you’re here. This is the Hattori, the Chief, and I’m Seki, the Vice-chief.

Rei: I look forward to working with you.

Hattori: Chief is just a title.

Hattori: The real Chief of this place is the one who created this place to begin with.

Rei: ?

Seki: This facility was built to isolate people with special conditions and to shield them away from the rest of the world.

Hattori: In the name of justice and love.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Chief’s Office ☆⋅⋆

Rei: ……? Special condition? Whatever do you mean?

Seki: I can’t divulge that.

Rei: Eh…?

Hattori: Well, let’s just leave the complicated parts at that—How about you go meet them instead and see for yourself?

Seki: Let’s bring you to a subject to talk to, where you can do your job as a communicator.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

I followed the supervisor with no questions asked as he took the lead before finally stopping in front of a door.

Arakida: --Here we are.

Imaoji: We’re normally stationed right outside of the room so we’ll be leaving you here.

Rei: I-I’m supposed to go in there alone…?

Asagiri: We’re able to tell whenever there’s an anomaly in the inmate.

Rei: …Alright, I understand.

Imaoji: Before you enter, there’s just one other thing I have to tell you.

Rei: ?

Imaoji: Having a relationship with an inmate is forbidden, so please do watch out.

Rei: I don’t think a relationship’s even possible, given the atmosphere in here…

Imaoji: Heh. Well then, feel free to open the door.

I sucked in a deep breath and turned to face the door.

Rei: (Behind this is a subject who has become an inmate…)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

???: --Oh! You’re here!

Rei: --!?

???: Come on, come on in. Let’s start~

Rei: (He’s way more cheery and optimistic than I expected…)

Rei: Pardon the intrusion.

???: Haha. You can just sit over there. Are you nervous?

Rei: …Yes.

Sugano: Aren’t you an honest one! Actually, we can do away with the polite speech. No need for that here.

Rei: …Okay, sure.

???: I can’t help but to be in high spirits since this is the first time I’ve ever got a communicator assigned to me.

???: I was so excited that I didn’t manage to get even a wink of sleep last night.

Rei: Oh, me too, actually.

Sugano: You too? –Actually, what’s your name?

Rei: Oh...I’m 12-

Sugano: Not your serial number.

Rei: --Izumi Rei.

Sugano: Rei, then. I’m Sugano Natsuki!

Sugano: Hey, Rei.

He suddenly turned to look straight at me, his gaze turning into one of utter seriousness, as if he had just turned into another person; a twin of sorts.

Sugano: Let me out of this captivity.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

Rei: Wha-

Sugano: Please? I’m about to go stir crazy from being kept cooped up in this place.

Rei: But…

Sugano: I’ll become yours.

Rei: I’m sorry, what…?

Sugano: I’ll give you anything within my means if you help me.

Rei: Even…Even if you tell me that…

Sugano: ----

Rei: Urk…

Sugano: Just kidding~

Rei: --!

Sugano: I’m joking. It’s just a joke~

He mentioned the word “joke” louder the second time round. He turned to look up. Following his gaze, I could see a surveillance camera mounted on the wall.

Rei: (I suppose they’re listening in to all the conversation that goes on within this room too.)

Rei: (…Well, I suppose that’s to be expected. They are inmates, after all.)

Sugano: But, you know. I’m glad to see people who come in from the “Outside”. They’re always like a breath of fresh air.

Sugano: I do talk to people like You-san, but it’s usually pretty boring in here.

Rei: You-san?

Sugano: Hm? Haven’t you met him? The chief.

Rei: Ahh, you mean Hattori-san!

Sugano: Yup, yup. Pretty handsome, isn’t he?

Sugano: Actually, all the supervisors here have a pretty high facial deviation.

Rei: Now that you mention it…I think you might be right. But, I was so nervous back when I met them, so…

Sugano: What about me?

Rei: Huh?

Sugano: How would you rate my looks?

Rei: You’re…

Sugano: Oh, wait. I think I’m better off not hearing it. I think I might just pin you down if you told me that I was worth a 100 points.

Rei: ???

Sugano: Or are you that sort of communicator, little miss comm?

Rei: I-I’m not going to do it with my body!!

Sugano: Ahaha. That’s a nice reaction. It’s really…how do I put this? Hmm…

Sugano: Like a proper human, I guess?

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

I left Sugano-kun’s room as he saw me off with a farewell line of “Come by soon again!”

Imaoji: Good work.

Rei: Oh, Good work to you too.

Imaoji: I’ll see you to your room.

Rei: Thank you so much.

Asagiri-san and Arakida-san where no where to be found, so I ended up walking alongside Imaoji-san, alone.

Imaoji: How was your first job as a communicator?

Rei: I was a nervous-wreck, overall.

Imaoji: I understand how you feel. The job this time round came by so suddenly, I’m sure you must have it hard.

Imaoji: It’s almost unheard of for a communicator to be privately scouted and hired like you were, so we fully intend to aid you to the best of our abilities.

Imaoji: Do tell us if there’s anything troubling you.

Rei: Thank you.

Imaoji: You don’t have to thank me for it.

Rei: (Whoa…he really does have good looks and a good facial variation.)

For me to be able to think of such thoughts, I suppose my initial nervousness must have worn off. And this must be all thanks to Sugano-kun, since he was such an easy person to talk to.

Imaoji: --Oh?

Rei: ?

In direct line of his vision as he came to an abrupt stop was—

Natsume: I’m telling you, this isn’t anything dangerous at all.

Arakida: Then allow me to check it.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

Rei: (The two of them are…having a dispute over something?)

Natsume: It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s not like you have anything to lose anyway.

In his hands was something that resembled a Headgear of sorts, made up of increasingly bizarre and complicated machinery parts.

Arakida: I have. I lost 3 days to sleep…

Natsume: But that was Kotaro-san’s Nutritional Drink at work so that’s not my fault!

Imaoji: What are the two of you standing around here talking about?

Natsume: Ohh, good work.

Rei: Good work today.

I got closer to where they stood and lowered my head.

Arakida: --

Imaoji: Are you asking for experiment assistance again?

Natsume: He’s lumping my experiments together with Kotaro-san’s warped ones!

Natsume: Even though all mine does is to only measure your brain waves!

Arakida: Absolutely not.

Natsume: You seem pretty adamant about it.

Arakida: Tsukasa-san told me to never trust you lot from the Research Department whenever you dish out the word “only”.

Natsume: ……Tsuduki Makoto’s pre-release book.

Arakida: !!

Rei: Wait, you mean THAT famous author?

Natsume: He actually came down here not too long ago seeking data for his new work since it was something science-related.

Natsume: Tsuduki-sensei said that he didn’t mind showing us researchers his new work if we promised not to accidentally leak word of it.

Natsume: So I thought that maybe I could share it with you as thanks for your help.

Arakida: Urk…

Natsume: You heard me, No. 1230. You’ll be able to read it if you cooperate with me; how about it?

Rei: It’s a new work yet to be released to the world?

Natsume: Yup!

Arakida: Damnit…

Rei: But that Headgear…

Natsume: It really only just measures your brain waves. It’s absolutely nothing dangerous at all.

Rei: Then—

Arakida: Wait.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

Natsume: What is it; Arakida-san?

Arakida: ……I’ll do it.

Natsume: Huh?

Arakida: I’ll cooperate with you.

Natsume: But I’ve already passed it over to No. 1230-

Arakida: Ngh…

Rei: (I-If he’s making such a pained face over this, then I suppose…)

Rei: I’ll back out if he’s willing.

Arakida: --

Rei: (He looks really happy about it…)

Imaoji: Heh.

Natsume: Is that so? I suppose I’ll have to ask Arakira-san to do the honours then.

Arakida: Of course.

He took the Headgear and plopped it atop his head.

--And when he did, an AI spoke from the device, stating “Activation Complete”. …Suddenly, plumes of smoke started billowing from the device.

Arakida: !?

Imaoji: Smoke is…

Rei: Wait a minute, isn’t this…Isn’t this thing burning!?

Natsume: Huh? Wait, this brain wave measuring device’s…

Natsume: Ah! I accidentally brought the one that Kotaro-san prodded at!

Arakida: OI! I CAN’T GET THIS OFF…!!

Natsume: Oh no. Kotaro-san might be the only one who knows how to remove it.

Natsume: Please run to the Research Lab.

Arakida: THIS IS WHY I DIDN’T WANT TO DO IT…!

The both of them made a mad dash for the Laboratory and disappeared down the hallway.

Rei: W-Will they be okay…?

Imaoji: Of course. It’s a usual occurrence after all.

Rei: It’s something that’s normal…?

Rei: (Now I really wonder if I can survive in this facility…)

I rubbed at my eyes that had gotten slightly teary from all the smoke the device atop Arakida-san’s head had been emitting…

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

Sugano: What’s with that! That’s so amusing! I want to be there too to see it with my own eyes.

Rei: You think so…? I didn’t see Arakida-san this morning.

Sugano: He might have just overslept. –Want to go pay him a visit?

Rei: Wait…Can you even leave this room?

Sugano: Sure I can. There’s a condition though.

Ran: A condition?

Sugano: You’ve got to put a collar on me.

Rei: (A collar!?)

───⋅𝕿𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊…⋆⋅☆

[o5-the-daughter]

Yes. :] Spill the tea.

BY DIRECT ORDER OF THE ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE:

The following document is an excerpt of a file classified under Clearance Level 5. Any unauthorized attempts to access this document may result in demotion and/or termination.

16/02/1964 || 0146 hour

Voting subject:

Should life-saving measurements in form of the use of large quantities of SCP-006 and/or SCP-500 be employed in the cases of Head Researcher Stephan M. Light and Head of Security O5-8, codename "Green"?

Notes:

- The injuries were sustained during the breach of (most notably) SCPs 049, 682, and 079; responsibility for containment failure of 049 and 682 has been assigned to O5-8.

- Both individuals were recovered approximately twenty-two (22) hours after the main building of Site-11 collapsed. O5-8 was presumed dead, R. Light delirious but lost consciousness soon after.

- Both individuals sustained heavy injuries in forms of burns (2nd to 4th degree, exposing parts of O5-8's spine), fractures (spinal, facial), and crushings (namely R. Light's right arm, which has been amputated) caused by falling rubble.

- Both individuals are currently comatose and appear unlikely to recover.

Notable arguments:

- Both individuals hold the main responsibility for the containment failures that caused the breach, as well as the damages it resulted in.

- The injuries have been deemed difficult to survive, even if SCP-006 is applied, making it a potential waste of a limited anomaly.

+ Both individuals hold the main responsibility for the breach being contained at a local level, with no anomalies escaping into the civilian world.

+ Both individuals have stood in the Foundation's service for over half a century each, with minimal previous slip-ups and a large number of positive contributions.

Recorded votes:

In favor: O5-2 (He Who Waits), O5-3 (The Beacon), O5-9 (The Outsider), O5-12 (Cyrus), O5-13 (Tamlin)

Against: O5-1 (Eve), O5-4 (The Collector), O5-6 (Adam), O5-7 (The Professor), O5-10 (The Veteran), O5-11 (The Liar)

Abstaining: O5-5 (Blackbird), O5-8 (Green)

5/6/2

Vote denied.

---

Addendum, 16/02/1964, 1850 hour:

Against all previous expectations, O5-8 has regained consciousness, although he was soon returned to a medication-induced delirium. Concerningly rapid improvement in his and R. Light's healing have been attributed to anomalous means, though the source is unknown; SCP-006 and SCP-500 both appear untouched.

M.D. Khater has been called to Site-20 and is to be kept on standby, in the case of surgery getting approved.

[cafecourage]

Subject 10-Mulan Link

You have now gained the accesses file page of the chain links case number #19835 Corrupted heroes for Subject #10

Current state: Safe

legal name: Link,last name unknown

Nicknamed: Mulan 

Biological age: unknown

Chronical age: unknown

Hieght: Unknown

Weight: unknown

Visiting accesse time for subject Zero: Must be planned ahead of schedule time in order to have private meetings and clerance from head chief researcher Queen zelda and level 5 personal clerance

Physical description: Subject 10 is a short haired Hylian woman who wears a green tunic and knight gear armor.They have a well built muscular body and a ferret that rests around thier neck as well as scars and cuts around thier body.The most noticeable scare they have are three little cuts under thier chin and a long vertical cut across thier right cheek.

Information: Subject 10 first arrived at the castle carrying subject zero and subject 11 bloodied and badly injured with a broken arm and serveral fractured bones as well as stab/slash wounds.They came in as duplicates of four identical versions of subject 10 dressed variouse colors such as brown,cyan,yellow and green.Only one of the 4 sets had arrived at the castle with subject Zero and Subject 11 while the others fought off to keep back the “chain” while back up knights and town gaurds were deployed to apreheand them.Subject 10 is not placed under any containment but is required to come to the SCRPP research site to have check ups and testing as well as recorded interviews with research personales.Subject 10 refuses to have to go anywhere without her ferret campaion so all interviews and meetings are held with subject 10′s ferret either on the site with them or curled around subject 10′s neck.Subject 10 is in current possesion of the master sword and four sword as well as veriouse other items from the group(but not all for research purposes and other classified resons).They are to be informed of any drastic procedures that are to be done to any of the known subjects and participats of case file #19835.Subject 10 is one of the only subjects out of all the links who dose not show a red essence seeping out or show any signs of agression or possesive behvaiors for subject Zero. Research is still going underway to find out a way as to why it is and if blood or dna samples can be exracted from subject 10 in order to find a cure.

[interview recoding of subject 10 #1]

Dr.Jean: Now beining case file number #1983 dash 1 subject 10 interview of the anomalie the Curropted Heros. Time started at 10:89. Interview researcher personale Dr.Jean, tag number 893 of site 13 room A14.

Dr.Jean: Ok,lets start.Rember at anytime you start to feel uncomfortable we can stop the interview,alright?

Link: ok..

Dr.Jean: ok,lets start off with something simple.Subject 10 can you please state your name?

Link: Mulan.

Dr.Jean: I am sorry,let me clarify I meant your real name.

Link: oh,right..its uh,its Link.

Dr.Jean: Good,can you state your last name as well?

Link: I dont have one.

Dr.Jean: Are you sure? No documnets? Family? Anyway to file for one?

Link: Yes,I am sure.I dont have one.Thats it.

Dr.Jean: Right,right, *ahem* can you tell us how long you’ve know the links?

Link: We had all know each other for about a year and a half, and today would have been our second year together if...you know,had things still been normal with everyone.

Dr.Jean: how did you meet these people to begin with?

Link: I was out exploring the outskits of the forests behind my house one day and saw a bright light,so i got curiouse and followed it.I found a portal and went through it.I was transported to the guredo desert and wondered a around for a bit before I found the chain.it turns out the portal took me to a diffrent time period and there was some time,dimentional stuff going on and we were all gathered to fix it or something.

Dr.Jean: How did you meet subject Zero?

Link: Subject Zero? oh,do you mean [redacted]?

Dr.Jean: Link,please reframe from saying subject Zero’s real name during this interview.

Link: Fine.

Dr.Jean:thank you,pleas contiue.

Link: We first met them a few months after lucky came when [ audio connection has been temperarly lost]

Dr.Jean: Intresting and how did you feel about Subject zero?

Link: I didn’t think much of them, I thought that they were ok.they were kind of nice and everyone liked them,so I did too.But there was something just...off about them.

Dr.Jean:Off like what? Did you distrust them?

Link: no,no,no not distrsut or anything like that...just that something was not right...there was  just something.....something WRONG with them,I dont know how to describe it, they were just not normal in a very bad way.But I ignored it and didn’t think much on it. I think they were just...diffrent.

Dr.Jean: Why did you help them escape?

Link: Because it was the right thing to do.I wanted to get them out of a situation where they were held captive and also keep the others from killing each other on who got to keep them.Its not that complicated. besides it my fault for not stopping this sooner.

Dr.Jean: How?

Link: What?

Dr.Jean: How did you think it was your fault?

LInk:[sighs] its...it was all right there I didn’t want to see it,I knew everyone was starting to act a little wierd but I didn’t want to take it that seriously,I didn’t want to think badly about my fami-friends..my friends...Until one day when they had gone completly overboard and uh.....I had found some of them beating down on a man after they were flirting with..with subject Zero...and to say that they looked like they were thugs when they were doing it would be too much of a understatement...They looked like they were having a good time doing it too.I swear when I saw them that day at the allyway they were not the heros I knew and travled with and as faw as i was concerned they were strangers-no,not even that,they were monsters...And the look on thier faces when I yelled out to them and they turned to me...it was like they were going to kill me right there and then......[Inhales heavily before exhailing shakingly] they weren’t normal....thier eyes....I don’t think I can really ever forget those empty vacant looks..it was like someone els was there...Since then things had started to get worse.

[suject 10 begins to pet her ferret at this time seeming to find comfort in it from thier stress]

Dr.Jean: Who were the ones that were there at the time of the incident?

Link: it was...I think Twilight,Four,Sky and Wild were all there.

Dr.Jean: Even Sky?

LInk: Yeah, him too.I rembered the second I started yelling and taring a new in asshole for them he just came up from behind the group and started to try to “calm me down” and explain how the shit I just saw wasn’t what it seemed like and yadda yadda yadda,typical gaslighting you know? But I wasn’t going to fall for some shit like that so I got the man out of there and to a medic, payed for all his expenses and reported them to Time and Warriors. Honestly I was so pissed off and in shock about it all that I had finally started notice and realize more and more things that were wrong about the group that I use to just keep ignoring.I still didn’t try to do anything serious about it though until the end of our journey.

Dr.Jean:What did you mean by noticeing things?

Link: .......just things....and looking back at it now should have been obviouse red flags but I never pressed for them.I think the first time I did it was with Wsrriors but he kept brushing me off saying things like "everyone is just protective of [redacted]" or "that you are looking way too into this" and when he did listen to me he would tell me that he'd keep a closer eye on the group.I suppose you can take a guess that, he did not, in fact, keep up the promis that he made.

Dr.Jean: did at any point in your adventures feel,were attempted to or succefuly attacked or harmed by any members of this group during you advnetures before the escape?

Link:No-well I mean yes but...[  exasperated sigh]...yeah....yeah there were a few...ok maybe a lot...But I guess the one that really stuck with me was when,uh,when Time held me up against a wall and tryed to cut my throat during a heated argument about.....them.

[Subject 10 reaches over to rub on a faint cut across thier neck]

[the ferret circles closer to her neck nuzzling it head into hers in an attempt to comfort Link]

Link: Aww,its ok little guy,I am fine right now.Don't worry fluffy.

Dr.Jean: i am sorry if its too much but what was the argument about?

Link:.......

[subject 10 stays silent for a few minutes before speaking again]

Link: It was about if we should kill subject zero.

Dr.Jean: Then do you think we should kill subject zero?

[subject 10 stops petting fluffy and stares at the doctore without giving an answer for several more minutes]

Link:[a shallow exhale leaves thier mouth] .......I........I....

[the sounds of sirens and alarms going off]

Annocemnet :There is a containment breach in the D -12 containment building floor,please all personels and staff go to the evacuation exits and safety rooms while special elit force knights handle the situation.Subject 4 case 19835- 1,2,3 and 4 cololrs have all escaped.If you see him or any of the colors they are to be neutralized and brought back to thier containment cells.All other staff do not ingage unless -

Dr.Jean: oh Hylia,looks like we’ll have to cut this short and we have to hurry and-wait where are you going! The safety room is this way! Link!

Link: [distant and muffled]I know,I just need to go out and kick a few stobbern little butts back in thier cells first-!

Dr.Jean: Link the elit knights can handle it you don’t have to-Link!! Link! Sir Link! Lin-!!

[audio ends here]

[jarofrebuke-transcripts]

Jar of Rebuke Episode 11 Unofficial Transcript

Season 1 Episode 11: Observations B

INTRO

The following audio recording is classified documentation for case [audio distortion]

GIA

I'm sorry, I'm not sure what that was. This equipment is in dire need of upgrades. This is Dr. Gia Castillo. The following audio recording is classified documentation for case H57. The subject has proven to be a bit... stubborn? Annoying? Well perhaps “difficult” is the best word. Ideally things would just go smoothly so that I could get back to what I was actually hired to do. I have a PhD in zoology, I have spent thousands of dollars for my education and title, but this? This? This is asinine, this is absolutely ludicrous, this is flat out stupid. There's no reason for this much time, effort, and money to be spent on Todd's little pet project. I was hired to examine how pollution and radiation could lead to the creation of these creatures, from afar. The local deer population for example? All of that research was led by me from my lab. Processing the radioactivity readings, exposure rates, things that could have led to the possible creation of the not-dear? In my professional opinion, is quite solid. And now? Now I'm playing babysitter to some… thing that Todd told me to watch over via nanny cam because he's too scared to. I have to play lab partner with something that never even earned its degree, yet still gets the title? I'll have to edit all of that out.

Today the subject took that hellhound on a walk after breakfast, which was then followed by some time watching television, a shower and then a frantic phone call. I won't know who it called until after a system synced tonight to pick up all the data from its phone and audio journal but it exhibited clear behavior and body language of being in quite a panic. It sat down and had started to record a session in its audio journal. While the audio journaling has remained as consistent as before, there have been some changes in its other behaviors. My recent findings have shown that the subject has been quite resistant to Dr. Daman’s sessions as of late. By the sound of its complaints and also of Dr. Daman's reports, the resistance is only worsening. Which led to another observer being brought in not too long ago- Mr. Zimmer. Now that I have the utter displeasure of working with him, my luck only continues to sour. Anyways, through the audio files and also the footage from the cameras, we are seeing signs of something else for us to look into. It taking in that hellhound as a pet of all things was both simultaneously surprising but also not too out of character for what we have seen previously. Creatures like those tend to be drawn to one another. But now there appears to be a third creature of sorts wandering around that particular home. We need to look further into what's captured on our recordings. The subject has mentioned to Dr. Daman seeing shadows around its home so that may be a good start for us. With that hellhound, Grove I believe it's taken to calling it, the team has agreed that it's best if that creature isn't around to further influence the subject. Of course the influence isn't intentional on the hellhound’s part per se, but the subject's empathy towards other supernatural creatures has only amplified since taking it in. That puts quite a hindrance on the goal that we were given by Todd, so it needs to go.

Dr. Daman suggested perhaps staging a sort of “running away from home” that pets tend to do. That may be our best course of action but putting this into action will take more time and planning. And we have also tried to get rid of those black-eyed children that keep tapping on its door. A bit of pest control as Todd calls it but well, in Mr. Zimmer's words- like roaches they don't die easily and they will come back. They seem to become only more adamant about being let into the subject's house. After the subject's investigation of those melon head children in the woods, Todd has decided that it'd be best to attempt to round them up and bring them in as well. Too dangerous to leave them out, he claims. Eating people seems to be the line, but Todd has shown no concern with the creature our subject encountered out in the river. I believe he has a certain disdain for creatures with child-like forms, at least that's a theme I've observed.

[door opens] Ah, what brings me the pleasure of your company?

LIAM

Ah, Gia, hello! I just came to check in and see how we were doing today, do a check in with the patient. How is it doing today?

GIA

That is Dr. Castillo, Mr. Zimmer. It just sat down to record a session of the audio journal. It was rather wise for Dr. Daman to encourage that, giving us a clear look into its thoughts. Of course what exactly it's saying I won't know until later tonight once the cloud collects the data, though it just got off of the phone with someone and has been pacing around the room quite nervously while talking.

LIAM

Fascinating. It's always so adamant about the supposed feelings it has. If I didn't know any better, I would say that it's practically human in every way! Look at it- the stress, the agitation. You know, the way that it so often curls into itself in our sessions truly is human. If only it knew the truth.

GIA

We're here to see how long we can keep the truth from it. I know you're using this to satiate personal curiosities, Mr. Zimmer, but we do have a goal to attain, and we must treat this as if we only have one shot at it.

LIAM

Oh of course, of course. But you can't tell me it's not incredibly curious. It acts so human and doesn't even think for a second that it might not be? Even though it's experienced death, well, far more times than it can count. I've seen it's so-called medical files. Dr. Rahal must really stretch his brain to figure out how to explain it all in a way that doesn't tip it off. And the fact that its body scars like a human body does is also fascinating.

GIA

Considering that Dr. Rahal is being kept on a need to know basis with this case, of course he must get a bit creative with his explanations.

LIAM

And based on those little audio journals, we may need to make sure that the good doctor isn't getting too soft with the patient. We don't have the luxury to empathize with the creature.

GIA

Would you empathize with it even if we did have the luxury?

LIAM

Hmm that's quite an excellent question, though I'm inclined to say no...

GIA

Which does not surprise me, given your reputation. Now if you would excuse me, Mr. Zimmer, I would like to resume my examinations. I'll forward you my notes and findings once I'm done.

LIAM

Of course, of course, doctor. I'll send over my notes from my most recent session with it to you and Dr. Daman at my next convenience. Talk to you later, Gia.

GIA

He is going to break our subject before we can find another one. Bringing him into this project was a ridiculous idea. I get that we're here to see just how human this creature has become, but you can see humanity without shattering one's mental stability. Anyways, this would imply that the creature has become human at all. It's still what it was before just with a human shell. Nothing will change what the creature is no matter how it looks or acts. I'll have to edit all of that out as well.

The subject has now taken to rocking slightly in its seat as it records. Something new that it picked up. There's various reasons that people rock back and forth but if it's picked this up from witnessing someone do this that would make sense. Dr. Daman encouraged it to engage more within the community of Wichton, mostly so we could see how it would socialize, but we didn't expect it to have so much success in doing so. The primary documented friends that it's made have been a few residents in town, primarily a Darius Chapman and a Holly Darling. Also it is reconnecting with its old lab partner, Dr. Milo Lomax, who had never been told the full truth hence why they were separated as lab partners. It has also been spending time with a research scientist from another department, uh, Dr. Jamie Everett. I'm not sure how much she has been briefed on the situation. With the amount of employees here who have been left in the dark on the true nature of this case it's safer to assume that she doesn't know, but I cannot say that for certain. I will need to reach out to Todd to see how deeply, if at all, Dr. Everett is involved.

That hellhound has been sniffing around its house quite a bit lately. Whether it's just part of more canine behavior or if it's more of the cryptid nature, I am not sure. Whatever it may be it's getting in the way of my view. Has it spotted the camera? It couldn't have, it's still just a dog! [clicking sounds] Oh, no, okay. All right, uh well, this is, this is bad. The subject has found the camera! How did this happen, this is... I have to inform Todd immediately, this is not damage control that we can afford to handle poorly! Damn it.

OUTRO

Jar of Rebuke is created and produced by Casper Oliver. Dr. Gia Castillo is voiced by Vanessa Rosengrant. Mr. Liam Zimmer is voiced by Andy “Pixel” Smith. Credits are read by Ashley Craft who has created the podcast official graphics. Episode was edited by Chelsea Finley. Episode was written by Casper Oliver and Jenny O'Sullivan. Music was created by Luke Menniss, spelled m-e-n-n-i-s-s who you can find and support on bandcamp, spotify, and twitch. Follow us on social media for updates. If you've been enjoying us please consider leaving a rating, review or comment wherever you tune in. You can also support us on patreon or pod hero by following the links in our episode description. And special thanks to our patreon supporters Tristan, Perry, Devin, Becky, Nico, Danny and Joyce.

[jokertrap-ran]

[Stand My Heroes] Case File:研究対象Sの記録 (Case File: Records on Research Subject S) Event Story: Investigation ④～⑥ Translations

*Master-list is in progress *MC name is retained default Izumi Rei

Part 1 / Part 2

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

Sugano: Hmm, this is rather soft for a collar.

Rei: It’s a hand, not a collar…Plus, you’re the one who’s holding onto my hand…

Sugano: Is that so?

--That’s right. The “Collar” he was talking about, was actually just, in fact, “Holding hands”.

Rei: (Still…)

Sugano: I wonder where Sosei-san’s room is at…

Rei: (…I kind of feel like I’ve been played for a fool.)

Rei: (Judging from the expression that Asagiri-san, who had been standing guard outside the room, had on his face…)

────────────────���────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

--Just now, when I had left the room hand-in-hand with Sugano-kun…

Sugano: Tsukasa-san, Rei and I are gonna pay a visit to Sosei-san’s room for a bit~

Asagiri: ----

He had an unreadable expression on his face as his eyes moved to glance down at our adjoined hands.

Rei: W-We’ll be going then…

Asagiri: …Hold up.

Rei: !

Sugano: What is it?

Asagiri: That…your hands.

Rei: !!

Sugano: What about it?

Asagiri: Did you go through the Antibacterial Lasers properly before joining hands?

Rei: ……What?

Asagiri: He has never left this place in a long time.

Asagiri: It’d be bad if you brought the flu virus in with you or something since you came from another place outside yesterday.

Rei: Okay…?

Sugano: Ahaha. Don’t worry, we went through the Antibacterial Lasers.

By the way, they might be called Antibacterial Lasers, but all we actually did was to put both our hands into a special device that emitted a special laser beam; and then, oh, what a surprise!

It’s a man-made device capable of killing 99.9999% of all potentially harmful viruses that affect the human body.

Asagiri: Then it’s fine. –-I think Sosei’s still sleeping.

Sugano: We’ll add a walk to the trip then. Thank you~

--And so, that happened.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Rei: (I can’t really come to a definite conclusion all on my own just based on Asagiri-san’s reaction alone…)

Sugano: Hey, Rei?

Rei: Hm?

He grinned and gave my hand a squeeze.

Sugano: Your hand’s really warm.

Rei: Huh?

Sugano: I feel really touched by it, since it’s been such a long time since I’ve had contact with another person.

Rei: Sugano-kun…

Sugano: Oh, that’s Sosei-san’s over there. Let’s wake him up if he’s still asleep!

Rei: Right, let’s go.

Rei: (…Well, I suppose it’s fine. Even if this is just a “Collar”.)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

And that was how my day as a communicator ended successfully without a hitch.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Laboratory ☆⋅⋆

There were times during my life in the facility, where Sugano-kun had been off-limits. And during those times, I turned to…

Yui: It has finally been completed!

Watabe: Congratulations; you’re finally done.

Beside Watabe-san, who seemed to be eating some DIY Sweets made in the Research Facility itself, was… Yui-san, who held up a small bottle of questionable luminescent liquid which colour could not really be identified.

Rei: Um, what is this…exactly…?

Yui: This is the new version of the Nutritional Drink that I’ve been painstakingly working on for the past 2 weeks!

Rei: A Nutritional Drink…

Suddenly, I recalled a snippet of a conversation I overheard just the other day.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Arakida: I have. I lost 3 days to sleep…

Natsume: But that was Kotaro-san’s Nutritional Drink at work so that’s not my fault!

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Rei: ……

Arakida-san had been lying in bed, looking blue in the face when I had visited him together with Sugano-kun.

Rei: (That was because of that shady Headgear, but still…)

Yui: I’ll give you the right to participate in its Clinical Trial.

Rei: ……What?

Yui: It’s truly an honour, don’t you think? I’m the leading researcher when it comes to Nutritional Drinks.

Watabe: Only within this facility, though.

Yui: Now, feel free to drink it. It will make all the stress you have piled up and the fatigue you feel while working as a communicator disappear.

He handed my the dodgey-looking liquid— Or, well, a Nutritional Drink, as he called it. And I…

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

Sugano: --Eh!? You drank it…!?

Rei: Yeah…Well, I couldn’t really turn him down.

Sugano: So, were you okay? Don’t you feel sluggish or pain anywhere?

Rei: Well…

Sugano: Mmngh…

Rei: I was really energized and refreshed by it.

Sugano: Eh--?

Rei: It really made my exhaustion disappear!

Sugano: What~ You really had me worried for a second there!

Rei: Ahaha, sorry for how I built up the suspense, only for it to end there.

Sugano: Not at all, the thrill was nice.

Sugano: Still, I wonder why Sosei-san ended up in bed after drinking the same thing.

Rei: That’s because the Nutritional Drink I drank was one that had been revised after having gathered the data from the failed version that Arakida-san drank.

Sugano: Then, you’ll have to thank Sosei-san for taking the bullet for you.

Rei: I know, right?

Sugano: I can totally tell that he’d look absolutely disgruntled by it if you thank him.

Rei: Ahaha, I can imagine.

Sugano: Haha.

It has already been about 15 days since I got to talk to him like this.

Rei: (I was really worried about how things would go at first, but turns out, it’s actually surprisingly fun here.)

Sugano: Haa~ That was a real good laugh. I’m so glad you came here!

Rei: I’m glad that you’re the one I’m assigned to for my job as well.

Sugano: Eh~ Did you really have to mention that it’s your job?

Rei: Oh, sorry…

Sugano: Don’t apologise.

Sugano: I like people who are passionate about their work.

Sugano: I heard that the person who created this Research Facility…Someone who’s been here before You-san…was also someone passionate about their work.

Rei: That’s right. The one who created this facility was none other than the Previous Chief.

Sugano: Yeah.

Suddenly, all signs of his previous joy drained from his face.

Sugano: …I wonder what they’re up to right now?

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

Rei: Do you not know?

Sugano: Rather that not knowing, I simply chose not to.

Rei: ……?

Sugano: But, I believe that You-san believes in that person’s justice.

Rei: …………

--Silence descended upon us.

This was the first time that I’ve been rendered speechless ever since I made contact with Sugano-kun.

Rei: …Um,

Sugano: Rei, what did you originally do on the outside?

Rei: Huh?

Sugano: Let me hear more about you.

I could tell that he didn’t want to talk about the “Previous Chief”, considering how he changed the topic like that.

Rei: I was a normal Office Lady (OL) out there.

Sugano: Heh~ What kinda company?

Rei: A pharmaceutical one.

Sugano: What about a boyfriend?

Rei: I see that you’ve taken to suddenly changing topics with your questions.

Sugano: It’s fine, isn’t it? Or is it a secret?

Rei: (I don’t have one…)

But he had this air around him that made him seem like he’d tease me endlessly about it if I just told him outright, right off the bat, that I “didn’t have a boyfriend”.

Rei: …Yeah, it’s a secret.

Sugano: Oh, so you don’t have one.

Rei: How did I get found out!?

Sugano: Your face.

Rei: EHHH!?

Sugano: I lied. It was just my gut instincts, also partly my own wishes.

Rei: Ehh…

Sugano: Say, Rei…Don’t you ever grow to miss the world outside?

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

Rei: (Miss the world outside…?)

In my head, the line “You too. You more than I” came up. And I was about to reply in kind, only to stop short because I was stepping into a dangerous zone. Because this topic fell under the “Forbidden Conversation Topics” that I had been handed before I began this job.

Sugano: You can’t go out either; not while you’re stuck down here as my assigned communicator, right?

Sugano: So, Don’t you miss your normal life?

Rei: …Of course I miss it; normally.

Sugano: …Okay, thanks.

Rei: Why are you thanking me?

Sugano: Because I didn’t need a textbook reply of “Of course not”.

Rei: ……

Sugano: I’m sure you want to hear about what I think too, right?

Rei: Mngh—

Sugano: You see, I’m really fine with anything either way.

Rei: …Even if you’ll remain here forever?

Sugano: I’ve come to know people like You-san really well. And it’s not like it’s all that uncomfortable living here either.

Sugano: Oh, but I could become a candidate for your boyfriend if I got out of here and regained my freedom.

Rei: --

I felt a pang in my chest.

Rei: (I’d almost forgotten about it, but now that we’re on this topic…)

Rei: (He’s someone who cannot leave this place of his own free will.)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

--Nightfall.

It was a time where I wasn’t allowed to make contact with Sugano-kun. I left the confines of my room, feel a sudden unexplained hunger out of the blue.

Rei: (I’m hungry…I feel like I’ve started to become a gourmet ever since I drank that Nutritional Drink that Yui-san made…)

Miyase: --Oh?

Rei: --!

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

Miyase: You’re…If I remember correctly, aren’t you the communicator assigned to Sugano-kun?

Rei: Yes, that’s right. I’m Rei—No, I’m No. 1230!

Miyase: Fufu, so Rei-san, is it? I’m Miyase.

Miyase: I’m in charge of cleaning and preparing food in this Research Facility.

Rei: Ahh!! Thank you so much for the delicious food that’s always being served!

Miyase: Same here; thank you for always eating it all so deliciously.

Rei: (How do I put this…? He really feels like he has this fluffy, warm and homely air around him.)

Miyase: By the way, where are you heading at this hour?

Rei: Oh, sorry…I’m actually feeling kinda hungry, so…

Miyase: I see, what nice timing.

Miyase: Here, how about you take these cookies I have here and have it for supper?

Rei: Whoa, that looks so delicious! Can I really have them?

Miyase: Of course. I made it for my brother, who has a sweet-tooth, but I accidentally made a little too much.

Rei: You have a brother…?

Miyase: He’s being kept as a subject in this Research Facility.

Rei: Eh--

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

Rei: Your brother’s here too?

Miyase: Yeah.

Rei: (H-How am I supposed to reply to that…?)

Miyase: What do you talk about with Sugano-kun?

Rei: Huh? Oh…Just normal conversational topics.

Miyase: Did he ever mention anything about wanting to get out of here?

Rei: --

Rei: (I wonder what he’s trying to get at with this conversation…)

I gave him a hesitant glance as the smile disappeared from his face.

Miyase: …I apologize. I’ve said something weird, haven’t I?

Rei: No—

Miyase: My brother; he doesn’t want to get out of here.

Rei: Eh…?

Miyase: I suppose this facility most probably gathers “People with the strongest will”.

Miyase: Perhaps that’s the trait that they’re trying to research here, in this facility—Or at least, that’s what I think.

Rei: People who have the strongest of wills…

Miyase: For example, those who have a sense of justice. The self-sacrificial ones,

Miyase: Or those that hold a burning hatred within them and the like…

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Hallway ☆⋅⋆

Rei: What…What are you trying to say?

Miyase: Those with a strong enough will, will get out of here someday, eventually.

Miyase: At the same time, I suppose that there are also people being held captive here with an equally strong will, despite being unable to escape.

Miyase: Like those who are too cowardly to break out of these chains…Or those who lie continuously, twisting and turning their words to their advantage on a whim.

Rei: Um…It would be…appreciated it you could speak it in a way so that even I can understand what you’re talking about…

Miyase: Fufu, I’ve spoken too much. I’ll take my leave now since my brother’s still waiting for me.

Rei: Miyase-san—

Miyase: Please keep the conversation we just had a secret.

Rei: (…What’s he talking about?)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

--The next day.

Rei: Pardon m——Ah.

Rei: My apologies. I didn’t know that you were here, Hattori-san.

Hattori: No worries; I’m already done here.

Sugano: --

Hattori: See you then. Be a good boy, alright?

Sugano: …………

Rei: (What’s with the…ill-feeling atmosphere in here?)

Hattori-san made his exit from the room, seemingly unaffected.

Sugano: …Sorry, Rei.

Rei: Huh?

Sugano: I don’t think I’m up for conversation today…Sorry, I just don’t feel it.

Rei: Ah…Don’t worry about it, I understand. Then I’ll be taking my le-

Sugano: Wait.

Rei: --?

Sugano: …No, it’s nothing. Sorry.

Rei: (Sugano-kun…?)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Private Room ☆⋅⋆

(…Sugano-kun was acting weird.)

Time had passed ever since the conversation we had during the afternoon. Now, night had already fallen, and he didn’t call for me even once.

Rei: (Although, making contact is forbidden at this time of the day to begin with…)

Lost to my thoughts, the buzzer of my room suddenly sparked to life. And when I pressed the remote to open the door—

Imaoji: --Sorry for disturbing you this late at night.

Rei: Imaoji-san? Is something the matter?

Imaoji: Sugano-kun has called for you.

Rei: What? But…

Imaoji: Will you come with me?

Rei: …Alright.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

Sugano: Oh, I was waiting.

Rei: What’s up? It’s pretty late in the night now.

Sugano: We didn’t manage to talk in the afternoon so,

Sugano: --Won’t you come closer to me?

Rei: …Okay.

I stepped forwards, towards him…One step, two steps, and then—

Rei: Wha-!?

I was suddenly wrapped in his embrace.

Sugano: …Go on a date with me if I ever meet you outside.

Rei: Huh--?

Sugano-kun held me in his embrace, smiling up at the surveillance camera in the room.

Sugano: --Tsukasa-san? I’m sure you’re seeing this, aren’t you?

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Monitoring Room ☆⋅⋆

Asagiri: --

Arakida: Natsuki…

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Room ☆⋅⋆

He looked up at the surveillance camera and spoke in light tones.

Sugano: I have a reason why I absolutely get out of this place.

Sugano: The official statement released by the great man of this country will be “A subject had held a communicator hostage, seeking his release in exchange.”

Sugano: Now, don’t you think this is perfect?

Rei: (Hostage…!?)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Monitoring Room ☆⋅⋆

Arakida: What should we do—

Asagiri: …………

Arakida: Tsukasa-san.

Asagiri: --It’ll probably be useless, even if we try to stop him.

Asagiri: Mngh—

Asagiri: Disable the locks on his gate.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

A blaring siren sounded in response, but the door opened.

Sugano: See you then, Rei.

Rei: Ngh-!

He turned away as soon as he released me; stepping outside, to his freedom.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Research Facility: Outside ☆⋅⋆

Rei: --Sugano-kun!

Sugano: --Huh? You came running after me?

Rei: Not…Not because I want to stop you, but-

Sugano: --

Rei: There’s just something I want to ask you.

Sugano: …Which is?

Rei: Why do you want to escape this place?

Sugano: --

Rei: Do you feel a strong urge of something within your heart…?

“Humans with the strongest of wills”, Miyase-san had mentioned. I wanted to know if he had something like that within him; that’s why I came after him.

Sugano: In my heart…

Sugano: …There lies a justice, one where I’ll protect those important to me, no matter what I have to do, so that they won’t be hurt.

Rei: Justice…

Sugano: I don’t expect you to understand me.

Sugano: Bye bye; this time for real.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Monitoring Room ☆⋅⋆

Arakida: Won’t Natsuki go down in the mud, alone, if you release him like that?

Asagiri: Even so, there’s no way I could have stopped him. What Natsuki has within him is— Stubborn, unfaltering, self-sacrifice.

Arakida: Ngh…

Asagiri: But, that’s also a form of Justice. Having said that, I don’t intend on letting him go quietly either.

Asagiri: Let’s think of what we can do.

Arakida: …Roger.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

And then, Sugano-kun who was surrounded in mystery disappeared. And his destination, was…

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Izakaya ☆⋅⋆

Shop Employee: Sorry to keep you waiting, here’s your Fried Oyster Set!

Them: --

Sugano: --Okay, I suppose that’s all for now.

Rei: Aw…I’m so curious about the continuation!

Asagiri: Speaking of the continuation, I don’t understand it at all considering how the mystery is how it is and the hints are too scattered to even piece together.

Rei: What happened to the in-house chef whose brother was being held captive there in the end…?

Sugano: Who knows?

Seki: I wonder what the relationship between the previous chief and the current one…

Asagiri: I can’t help but to think of the supervisor guy who called the main character out during the period of time where contact was prohibited fishy as well.

Rei: Oh, I thought that strange as well.

Seki: I don’t think the motive of why that Research Facility was even created was even clearly stated to begin with…

Sugano: Haha, I told you; I don’t know!

Sugano: It’s an unfinished work written by a criminal, so even I don’t know what’s gonna happen!

Them: …………

Shop Employee: Sorry to keep you waiting, here’s your Ramen Set and Mixed-fry Sets!

Seki: …Thank you.

Shop Employee: Enjoy!

Seki: Well, I suppose we should dig in while it’s still warm.

Asagiri: We should.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Izakaya ☆⋅⋆

Sugano: Thank you for the food~ …Before that, water, water. I’m parched from having talked so much. I poured my half-full glass of water into his.

Sugano: Thanks.

Rei: Not at all. Still, I’m amazed at how you managed to recall everything down to the smallest detail.

Sugano: It was a rather interesting read, unexpectedly. Well, I did dramatize some of the parts I remembered, but I also did think a little about it’s continuation.

Rei: Amazing! How do you see it being…?

Sugano: Before I continue, what do you think will be the continuation of this story, Rei?

Rei: Hmm…I can’t really think of all the complicated details because I’m lacking in the imagination department, but I suppose…

Rei: I suppose a Happy Ending would be great, ahaha~

Sugano: Sounds just like you. What about you, Tsukasa-san? What do you think?

Asagiri: --There was talk about “Justice” throughout the entire story, but I didn’t seem to hear an inkling about the word “Evil” or anything resembling it.

Asagiri: If this story were to be continued, I suppose justice would have won with an overwhelming victory, bringing the story to a close.

Sugano: What a conclusive answer from inference.

Asagiri: Do you have a problem with it?

Sugano: No, I just think that my respect for you has just gone up.

Sugano: How about you, Seki-san?

Seki: Eh…Do I have to answer?

Sugano: Well, you don’t really have to. Although, it’s not really common for us to have the time to talk like this over a meal and all, you know?

Seki: You’ve got a point…

Seki: …It might be hard, but I hope that we can see their hopes for the future; no matter from whichever character’s point of view.

Rei: You have my respect, Seki-san.

Seki: Haha, thanks.

Asagiri: I don’t think all people talk about are delusions and fantasies.

Sugano: Even I do, sometimes!

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Izakaya ☆⋅⋆

Sugano: Hmm…In the continuation that I thought of, the guy who escaped from the Research Facility would see his goal of getting out through—

Sugano: And then the people important to him will all live happily ever after! Cheers, banzai~♪

Rei: ……??

Sugano: What’s with that face you’re making?

Rei: I mean, based on what you’ve just said…Whatever happened to “Him” himself?

Sugano: Huh?

Rei: Huh?

Sugano: Oh- I see. Well…I suppose he straight out died off the bat or got caught and was shipped back to the facility or something?

Rei: Ehh…

Asagiri: Why is the ending so sloppily-handled?

Sugano: Is it?

Sugano: I mean, he left the place because he was already prepared for whatever would come after, in order to fulfill the goal he had in mind.

Sugano: Therefore, wouldn’t it be natural to place the least priority on himself?

Asagiri: --I think not.

Seki: Yeah. It’s rather painful and frustrating when a solution is made upon another’s sacrifice.

I felt the same way as Seki-san did.

Rei: (But…)

I feel as if it was pointless even if I tried explaining it to Sugano-kun as he was busy devouring his Fried Oyster Set…

Sugano: Haha, the atmosphere in here has turned all serious all of a sudden. It’s all just fiction, you know?

Sugano: --Mm! The Fried Scallops here are really the best!

Rei: (…One day.)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

It would be great if I could come back to this subject one day, and have a serious discussion about it with Sugano-kun… --Strangely enough, when think that it will happen one day, I feel like it will happen for sure, eventually.

───⋅𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐸𝒩𝒟⋅☆

[spn-safeandsound]

12. Long Distance

Safe and Sound

Dean Winchester x Original Character

Episode: 1x17; Hell House

Word Count: 7,182

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, sisterly antics

Author’s Note: Enjoy! Let me know what you think! Make sure to reblog and like!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

Julia anxiously watched the printer in Beth and Taylor's study, her lips quirking into a smile as the professional cursive was inked onto the expensive paper that Beth insist she get for her diploma. She had finally graduated from Stanford and, although she didn't get to attend graduation, she was very proud of herself. Her double major in Religion and Linguistics had been received simply because she was too meticulous and stubborn to let her education go waste.

But now that education was over and she couldn't lie and say she wasn't happy about it.  Sixteen years in school was a long time—even though she went two years less than other people she graduated with—and she was glad that part of her life was over. She just wished that her mom and Levi were still here to witness this. Still, she knew they were watching up in Heaven and that was the best she was going to get.

Once the printer spit out her diploma, she carefully set it on Beth's desk so the ink could dry without any smudges. She was just taking a seat in the desk chair where her open laptop was sitting so she could continue working on the case she found for Sam and Dean down in Texas when her cellphone rang.

She wasn't surprised that it was Dean; he had been calling her every couple of hours to check up on her. He wasn't happy that she didn't want to hit the road just yet after Levi's death but he understood and was supportive anyway. He just made sure she knew that he and Sam would check up on her and the rest of the Petersen family. That was sweet and everything and Julia appreciated how supportive the Winchester brothers were being but sometimes there was such a thing as too many calls. She couldn't believe that Dean accused her of talking too much.

Beth and Abby thought it was the cutest thing ever when she'd have to leave the room to talk to Sam and Dean—though it was mostly Dean as she and Sam communicated through a text thread—and not return for a half-hour. Beth and Abby weren't the ones who had to assure a very worried Dean every couple of minutes that they were safe and feeling a little bit better. Usually Julia was the mother-hen but, apparently, in her absence, Dean took up the title.

Julia sighed and flipped her phone open. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Dean."

"Yeah, I know," Julia rolled her eyes, glad that he couldn't see the obvious look on her face. "What's up?"

"Well, Sam just woke up with a spoon in his mouth," Dean chuckled, sounding satisfied with himself. "and I took a picture to send to you."

"Yeah, it's real funny, Dean," Sam grumbled.

Julia shook her head in amusement; Sam and Dean's prank wars were always a hit with Dean, even if Sam didn't enjoy them as much as his older brother.

"Where are you guys?"

"A few hours outside of Richardson," Dean answered her. "Give me the low down on this case you found."

"Okay," Julia pressed the space button on her laptop, waking it up, and clicked on the folder of information she collected. "About two months ago, a group of kids went poking around a local haunted house."

"Haunted by what?" Sam wondered.

"A misogynistic spirit, I guess. Like we need any more of those in the world," she hummed in disapproval; Sam chuckled in agreement. "Anyway, the legend goes that it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters."

"Okay, so what happened with this group of kids?" Dean said, getting her back on track.

"They saw a dead girl hanging in the cellar."

"Anybody ID the corpse?"

"The body was gone by the time the cops got there," Julia clicked on the police report in the file. "The police think that the kids were playing a joke on them."

"Maybe the cops were right," Sam suggested.

"They could be but I've read some of the first-hand accounts from the kids involved," Julia sighed. "They seemed pretty sincere about the whole thing."

Dean sounded skeptical when he spoke next. "And where did you read these accounts, Junior?"

Julia took a beat, glad that he couldn't see the flush rising in her face. "I might have surfed through some local paranormal websites."

"Mmhm," she could hear Dean's disapproval even though he hummed. "and what's it called?"

Julia sighed as she read the website from the file, "Hell hounds lair dot-com," she heard Sam laugh. "Hey, it could be legit!"

"Most of those websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit them in the ass, Julia," Dean sighed.

"Hey, you wanted a case, I delivered," Julia defended herself. "If it's nothing, that's fine, but it doesn't hurt to check it out."

"Especially since we let Dad and Luke take off," Sam backed up Julia.

Julia frowned, still bitter about that. She wasn't mad at Dean and Sam by any means. No, she was angry with her dad. He didn't come when Julia was dying or when Levi actually died but he was fine following John Winchester to Chicago just to see the failed trap the girl who killed Levi set up for them.

It wasn't like his daughters were only a half-hour away, mourning the loss of their older brother or anything. It wasn't like his only son was killed.

"Fine," Dean gave in when he heard Julia's silence. He had been the one to tell her that they saw Luke with their dad and it was heartbreaking to see the expression on her face. He hoped he'd never let her down like Luke did. "We'll check it out. How have you been doing, shortcake?"

"I'm fine," Julia twisted her lips. "I got my diploma today."

"Wait, are you serious?" Sam exclaimed. "That's great, J! Congratulations!"

"I'm proud of you, Julia," Dean added sincerely.

"Thanks, guys," Julia's chest swelled with love. She was so glad that Sam and Dean Winchester were in her life.

"Send me a picture."

"I will," she agreed to Sam's request. "Well, I'll let you go—"

"Wait, wait," Dean stopped her from hanging up. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Dean..."

"I mean, you can talk to us."

Julia quirked an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't do chick-flick moments?"

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, well..." he changed the subject. "How many times have you watched Dirty Dancing since we left?"

Julia hesitated; Dirty Dancing was her go-to movie to watch whenever she was sad. It was her mother's favorite movie and Julia grew up watching it a lot. She absolutely adored Patrick Swayze, the dancing, the music, and the love story that made up the film. It made her happier.

"Jules?"

"I've watched it every night, okay?" she confessed. "Leave me alone, I'm delicate."

"All right, all right," Dean gave in; Julia could tell that he was worried about her and that was sweet but watching that movie was her coping mechanism and it hadn't let her down so far. "We'll talk later, shortcake. Stay safe."

"I will," she promised. "You guys be safe, too. Love you."

"Love ya, too, J," Sam called. "Bye."

"Bye."

Julia closed her phone and set it down on the desk beside her laptop. She pulled up her internet browser and started doing more research for the case, hoping that any information she pulled would help the brothers out.

-

Dean and Sam walked into the record shop, looking around for the guy that the witnesses said sent them to the house where they saw the dead girl. As they passed by the first table full of records, a worker came out from the back with his hands full of more merchandise to put away.

"Gentlemen, can I help you with anything?" he asked them.

"Yeah, are you Craig Thurston?" Sam asked him politely.

"I am," the worker confirmed as he put a record in place.

"Well, we're reporters with the Dallas Morning News," Dean told him. "I'm Dean and this is Sam."

"No way," Craig's face lit up. "I'm a writer, too. I write for my school's lit magazine."

"Ah, good for you, Morrison," Dean chuckled as he began to look through the crate of records in front of him. He completely missed the confused look that Craig gave him but Sam noticed and cleared his throat.

"Um, we're doing an article on local hauntings and rumor has it you might know of one," Sam smiled at Craig, wishing that Julia was here to get the information out of him—she was much better with the guys than he was.

"You mean the Hell House?" Craig asked.

Dean nodded, looking up from the records. "That's the one."

"I didn't think there was anything to the story," Craig said avoidantly.

"Why don't you tell us the story."

"Well, supposedly, back in the thirties, this farmer named Mordechai Murdoch used to live in this house with his six daughters," Craig told them after a moment of hesitation. "It was during the Depression, his crops were failing, and he didn't have enough money to feed his own children. So, I guess that's when he went off the deep end."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "How?"

"Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick rather than starve to death, so he attacked them," Craig stated. "They screamed, begged for him to stop but he just strung them up, one after the other. And, when he was all finished, he just turned around and hung himself. Now, they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up any other girl that goes inside."

Dean pressed his lips together; the story Craig was telling sounded just like that. A story. His words were something out of a dramatic novel, not a true story. And what parent would just kill their kids instead of trying to do whatever it took to make sure they lived?

"Where'd you hear all of this?" he asked Craig.

"My cousin, Dana, told me. I don't know where she heard it from. You gotta realize, I didn't believe this for a second."

"But now you do," Sam assumed.

"I don't know what the hell to think, man," Craig shrugged. "You guys, I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, okay? That girl was real. This was not a prank. I swear to God, I don't wanna go anywhere near that house ever again."

Dean shared a look with Sam and then nodded at Craig. "Thanks."

A half-hour later, Sam and Dean were walking through mud to get to the so-called Hell House. It was creepy looking, they had to admit, but not anything less creepy than the things they saw everyday during their job. It was just a little run-down house, not much else.

"I can't say I blame the kid," Sam sighed, his eyes searching the grounds around the house.

"Yeah," Dean agreed as they got closer to the house. "so much for curb appeal."

Sam took a look around the perimeter of the house while Dean pulled out the EMF meter. It whirled like it usually did when there was anything unusual around but the way it started up as soon as he pressed it on, made him think that something was off.

He tapped the device, frustrated, as Sam came back over to him.

"You got something?"

"Yeah, the EMF's no good," Dean looked around, the powerlines above the house catching his eye.

"Why?"

Dean nodded at the power lines. "I think that thing's still got a little juice in it. It's screwing with all the readings."

Sam sighed heavily. "Yeah, that'd do it."

"Come on, let's go."

They entered the house, finding that it was unlocked in its abandoned state. They started in the front room and then moved onto the living room where a fireplace lined with various candles was. The walls were covered in spray paint, a bunch of different symbols that didn't really even go together scattered randomly around the room.

Dean whistled sarcastically. "Looks like old man Murdoch was a bit of a tagger in his time."

"And after his time, too," Sam muttered, eyeing a symbol of an encircled cross. "That reverse cross has been used by Satanists for centuries but this sigil of Sulfur didn't show up in San Francisco until the sixties."

Dean gave Sam a long took, wrinkling his nose. "How do you know that?"

"I listen to Julia when she talks about this kind of stuff," Sam said pointedly, knowing that Dean checked out whenever something that required a little brain power was brought up.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Shuddup," he walked across the room, looking at more of the symbols on the walls. He stopped in front of one that looked like an upside-down question mark with two little lines on either side. It looked kind of familiar. "Hey, what about this one? Have you seen this one before?"

Sam studied the symbol and took a picture of it with his phone. "No."

"I have...Somewhere," he couldn't place it, though.

Sam cautiously reached toward the symbol, rubbing it with his fingertips. "It's paint," he studied the slight stain that it left. "Seems pretty fresh, too."

Dean sighed and turned away from the symbol. "I don't know, Sam. You know I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind but the cops may be right about this one."

"Yeah, maybe—"

A loud noise cut off Sam's agreement. The brothers instantly went on alert and followed the noise to a door that led to another room. They stood on either side of it; when Sam nodded, Dean whipped open the door and stepped into the room.

He was immediately attacked by bright beams of lights right in his eyes and two groans of horror. When the flashlights flitted away, he could see that there were two guys in front of them, around his age with camera gear.

The brunette groaned. "Oh, cut. It's just a couple of humans," he told his companion, who shut the camera off. "What are you guys doing here?"

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Dean countered.

"Uh, we belong here," the ginger guy with the camera drawled. "We're professionals."

"Professional what?"

"Paranormal investigators," the ginger reached into his pocket and pulled out a card to give to them. "Here you go, take a look at that, boys."

Dean took the card and read it. He groaned in realization, "Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

"Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spangler? Hellhoundslair.com," Sam read over his shoulder. "You guys run that website?"

Ed, who was the ginger with the camera, nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, we're huge fans," Dean said sarcastically as he passed Ed and Harry to check out more of the kitchen.

"And we know who you guys are, too," Ed said.

Dean and Sam turned to face him sharply. "Oh, yeah?"

"Amateurs," as soon as the words were out of Ed's mouth, Dean pursed his lips and turned away once again. "looking for ghosts and cheap thrills."

"Yep," the other guy, Harry, agreed. "So, if you guys don't mind, we're trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation here."

"Yeah?" Dean noticed a gadget that they must have brought with them on the counter; he picked it up to inspect it. "What do you have so far?"

"Harry, why don't you tell them about EMF?" Ed prompted his friend.

Harry hesitated. "Well..."

"EMF?" Sam played dumb and Dean saw that he was trying not to smile.

"Electromagnetic field," Harry told him as though he was an expert. "Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuations that can be read with an EMF detector," he pulled a EMF reader out of his canvas vest. "Like this bad boy right here."

He turned on the EMF, causing it to whirl angrily. "Woah, woah," he exchanged an excited look with Ed while Dean smirked at Sam. "It's two-point-eight MG."

"Two-point-eight," Ed repeated excitedly. "It's hot in here."

Dean whistled mockingly while Sam tried not to laugh. "Wow."

"Huh," Dean clicked his tongue. "So, have you guys ever really seen a ghost before?"

"Once," Ed looked back to where Dean was standing by the counters. "We were, uh, we were investigation this old house and we saw a vase fall right off the table."

"By itself," Harry added needlessly.

"Well, we didn't actually see it, we heard it," Ed corrected himself but grew serious again. "And something like that...it, uh, it changes you."

"Yeah, I think I get the picture," Dean crossed his arms over his chest and walked over to Sam. "We should go, let them get back to work."

"Yeah, you should."

Dean nodded at his brother and then the door. "Sam."

Sam followed him out of the kitchen and they left the house, not wanting to deal with the kids who wanted to enter the big leagues.

-

Julia kneaded the sugar cookie dough on the counter in front of her, humming along to whatever Disney song that the radio that was playing throughout the kitchen. Lizzie was on her side of the island, cutting out cookies with a heart-shaped cookie cutter while Beth and Abby were on the other side, decorating some of the finished cookies with colorful icing.

Once that song was finished, a familiar one started, making her smile.

"Oh, I love this song!" Abby exclaimed while concentrating on the flower cookie she was creating. "Let's get down to business to defeat the Huns!"

"Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?" Beth joined in.

Julia sang next. "You're the saddest bunch I ever met but you can bet before we're through..."

"Mister, I'll make a man out of you!" Lizzie finished loudly, making Julia, Beth, and Abby laugh.

They continued singing along to the best song that Mulan produced while making cookies. When Lizzie was finished with the rest of the heart batch, Julia slid the tray into the oven. Once she set the timer, she gave Lizzie the last batch of dough, allowing her to cut out some dinosaurs.

"I'm done with the dinosaurs, Momma!" Lizzie announced once the dough was gone.

"Good job, cutie," Beth smiled. "Why don't you go wash your hands?"

"Okay!" Lizzie climbed off the stool she was standing on and ran out of the kitchen to the nearest bathroom.

"Use soap!" Beth called after her; once she was sure her daughter couldn't overhear her, she turned to Julia. "So..."

Julia pursed her lips, knowing what was coming. Since Dean and Sam left four days before, Beth had been waiting to talk to her about something. She had that look in her eyes where she wanted girl talk and it also occurred every time Dean called her. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

Julia sighed and started wiping the excess flour from the counter. "So what?"

Beth smiled coyly and Abby shook her head impatiently. "She wants to know about you and Dean."

"What about me and Dean?"

There was no her and Dean, no matter how much Julia wanted that. She had moments recently when she and Dean spoke—especially when Sam wasn't joining the conversations—where she thought Dean might have the same romantic feelings that she had but she wasn't sure. Dean cared about his family and he considered her and the rest of the Petersen family his family. It wasn't like he was pining after her the same way she was pining after him.

"Oh, stop deflecting, Julia Ruth," Beth scolded her. "There's something going on with you and Dean and I—" Abby cleared her throat and Beth corrected herself, "—we want to know."

Julia scoffed and threw her washcloth into the sink. "There is nothing going on. Trust me."

Beth and Abby exchanged skeptical looks. "But you want there to be, don't you?" Beth guessed; she gasped loudly when she saw Julia scratch her cheek. "Oh, my God, you do!"

"No, I don't!"

"You scratched your cheek, you liar," Abby pointed out with a laugh. Julia scowled at her. "We're sisters, Jules. Sisters talk about this stuff."

"I've never talked to you about my boyfriends before," Julia protested.

"That's because by the time you had an actual boyfriend you were at Stanford," Beth reminded her. "and you did use to talk to me about boys. Remember that guy you liked when you were in high school?"

"Ugh, don't remind me," Julia groaned; Abby and Beth gave her expectant looks. "Fine, I like Dean. Happy?"

"Extremely," Abby smirked. "He sucked you back in, huh? How old were you when your crush on him finally went away?"

Julia blushed. "Fourteen."

Abby snorted in amusement. "Yeah, now I remember."

Julia sent her a glare while Beth slapped her arm. "Abby, stop," she scolded her before turning back to Julia. "Ignore her, Jules. It were cute."

"A fourteen-year-old crushing on a guy who was twenty? Yeah right," Julia scoffed. "And that's the problem, isn't it? He's almost seven years older than me. He doesn't see me as anything but a little sister."

Abby calmed her laughter. "Jules, Dean doesn't look at you like a sister," she told her baby sister. "He looks at me and Beth as sisters. He looks at you like you're sex on legs."

It was Beth's turn to giggle as Julia's cheeks darkened further and she ducked her head.

"And Sam says that he always checks you out," Abby added.

Julia looked up sharply. "He did?" Abby nodded. "Since when do you talk to Sam?"

"Since he grew up to be a hottie with a body."

Julia rolled her eyes so heavily that it hurt. "No one actually says that, Ab."

"Since when were we talking about me?" Abby protested as Beth laughed again. "my point it that Dean wants to fuck you."

"Okay, the five-year-old is going to be back any second so let's not use that language," Beth smothered her laughter as they heard the faucet cut off in the bathroom. "But, seriously, Julia, he likes you."

"What we're going from sex to feelings now?" Julia asked incredulously. "Sex, I get. I'm hot and Dean loves sex but feelings? Are we talking about the same Dean Winchesters, here?"

"I wanna talk about Uncle Dean!" Lizzie chirped as she ran back into the kitchen. She climbed back onto her stool and looked eagerly at her mom and aunts. "Are you talking about the crush he has on Auntie Jules?"

Julia gaped at her while Abby pointed enthusiastically. "See? Lizzie sees it too."

"That's because Beth's poisoning her mind."

"No," Lizzie protested innocently. "I heard Uncle Sammy and Auntie Abby talking about it."

"Well, I'm so glad that my love life is so interesting to you guys," Julia huffed with warm cheeks. She glanced at the oven, wishing the timer for the cookies would go off so they could change the subject.

"Look," Beth sighed. "Dean calls you multiple times a day, every day just to see how you're doing. Do you think he does that to anyone else who isn't Sam?"

"He's checking up on me."

"Don't give us that sh—crap," Abby shook her head, correcting herself before she could cuss in front of Lizzie. "You're scared that you'll put yourself out there and get rejected."

"Because it's Dean!" Julia exclaimed, frustrated. "Dean, who doesn't do relationships. So what if I want to protect myself? That's good."

"It's good to protect yourself," Beth agreed and grabbed Julia's clenched fists. "but you and Dean...you should see each other. You look at him when he's not looking, he looks at you when you're not looking. You move even an inch and he's shifting toward you. The way I see it, is this isn't a passing fancy."

"You're together every day, you fight along side each other, you protect one another," Abby continued. "You trust each other and that's rare in our profession, Jules. Even I can see that you guys have something special."

Julia wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. It was nice hearing her sisters say these things but she couldn't tell Dean about her less than platonic feelings for him. He was too important to her and she didn't want to lose him, even if it meant she had to get over her feelings. Dean didn't do relationships and she had tried the one-night stand thing and it didn't go well for her. Maybe it wasn't meant to be.

As if the universe was disagreeing with her, her phone rang from the counter by the fridge. Lizzie eagerly climbed off her stool again and raced toward the phone, flipping it open.

"Hi, this is Lizzie!" she chirped before gasping excitedly. "Uncle Dean, we were just talking about you!"

"Lizzie!" Julia lunged toward her niece, ignoring her flour-covered hands to grab the phone from her. She pressed it against her ear. "Uh, hey, Dean."

"Hi there, shortcake," Dean's voice was coy. "Heard that you girls were talking about me. Are there gonna be pillow fights next because, if you want, you could—"

"Okay," Julia hurried interrupted him, waving frantically at her sisters as they laughed at the mortified expression on her face. "We were, um, we're making cookies actually, so...yeah."

"And I just so happen to come up in the conversation?" she could practically hear the smirk on his lips.

"Uh, yeah, because," she walked out of the kitchen and into the bathroom next door, shutting the door firmly behind her. "I was telling Lizzie that you liked pie instead of cookies."

Dean perked up. "You guys are making pie?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Julia agreed even though they hadn't really planned on it. "So, what's going on down there?"

"Eh, we got some more information," Dean sighed, becoming serious again. "Some kid told us that a guy named Mordechai Murdoch killed his six daughters during the Depression but what Sam found didn't quite match up."

Julia frowned. "Well, what did he find?"

"That the guy's name was actually Martin and he had two sons instead of six daughters," Dean informed her. "There's nothing to say he ever killed anyone."

"Huh," Julia wrinkled her nose. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, I talked to the police and there's no missing persons, either," Dean paused for a second. "Jules, we dug like you wanted but we don't think there's anything here."

"Well, that's good, then," Julia said. "No spirit, no dead people, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, on your way back, you can stop in Houston," she suggested. "I, um, I got that NASA tour for Levi, remember?"

"Jules, we can't—"

"Yeah, you can," Julia insisted. "I don't want it to go to waste and you love that kind of stuff, Dean. You and Sam deserve some fun once in a while, you know?"

Dean was quiet for a few seconds. "All right. We'll check it out."

"Good," she smiled. "I'll email Sam the information about the tour and hotel."

"Thanks, shortcake," Dean's voice cheered up a little. "I'll call you later when we head out, okay?"

"Okay, talk later. Bye, Dean."

"Bye."

Julia snapped the phone shut and sighed, pressing it to her chest. She was glad that she got to the phone before Lizzie could spill on what they were really talking about. Dean was already insufferable when he knew they were talking about him but if he knew that they were talking about feelings and sex and all that, his ego wouldn't be able to fit in the Hancock building.

She slipped her flour-covered phone into her apron pocket and quickly washed her hands before heading back to the kitchen.

-

Before Sam and Dean could even leave town, they got a call from the detective Dean spoke with the day before. The sun was still setting when he called, telling them to get to the Hell House as soon as possible. When they arrived on scene, a body bag was being carted to the coroner's van. The detective informed them that a girl had hung herself in the house, which sounded just like the Mordechai story went.

They went back to the Hell House around midnight and dodged the cops when those nerds, Ed and Harry showed up. Mordechai ended up attacking with an ax and was immune to rock salt, which led them to more research.

Dean sat on his bed, drawing that familiar symbol on the notepad that the motel provided. "What the hell is this symbol? It's bugging the hell out of me," he looked up at Sam, who was researching at the table. "This whole fucking job is bugging me. I thought the legend said Mordechai only goes after chicks."

"It does," Sam said distractedly, focusing on his laptop.

"All right, well, that explains why he went after you but why me?"

"Hilarious," Sam looked away from the screen to scowl at him. "The legend also says he hung himself but did you see those slit wrists?"

"Yeah."

"What's up with that?" Sam shook his head. "And the ax, too. I mean, ghosts are usually pretty strict, right? Following the same patterns over and over again?"

Dean nodded. "This dick keeps changing."

"Exactly. I'm telling you, the way the story goes..." Sam typed in Ed and Harry's website and pressed enter, waiting as it loaded. His eyes widened when he saw a new article about the Hell House. "Wait a minute."

Dean looked up from his notepad. "What?"

"Someone added a new post to the Hell Hound site," Sam informed him. "Listen to this: They say Mordechai Murdoch was really a Satanist who chopped up his victims with an ax before slitting his own wrists. Now, he's imprisoned in the house for eternity."

Dean sat up as he stared at the symbol he had drawn, finally recognizing it.

"Where the hell is this going?"

"I don't know but I think I might have just figured out where it all started," Dean rolled off his bed. "Come on, we gotta go to the record store."

They entered the record store not long after, spotting Craig at the cash register.

"Hey, Craig," Dean called to him over the loud rock music playing through the store. "Remember us?"

Craig sighed. "Guys, look, I'm really not in the mood to answer any of your questions, okay?"

"Oh, don't worry," Dean waved him off as he stopped in front of the record crate marked with the second letter of the alphabet. "We're just here to buy an album, that's all."

He quickly flicked through the records in the crate and pressed his lips together when he found the one he was looking for. On the back of a Blue Oyster Cult record, he saw the symbol he had recognized at the Hell House.

He grabbed it and slowly walked over to Craig with Sam on his heels.

"You know, I couldn't figure out what that symbol was and then I realized that it doesn't mean anything," Dean told Sam conversationally, his voice hardening toward the end. "It's the logo for the Blue Oyster Cult. Tell me, Craig, you into BOC or just scaring the hell out of people?"

When Craig turned around to face him and Sam, he handed the Blue Oyster Cult album to him. He took it and flipped it over, eyes flitting over the cover art, which included the symbol that was spray painted at the Hell House.

"Why don't you tell us about that house," Dean suggested. "Without lying through your ass this time."

Craig looked up at Dean for a moment. "All right," he sighed heavily. "My cousin Dana was on a break from TCU. I guess we were just bored and looking for something to do. So, I showered her this abandoned dump I found. We thought it would be funny if we made it look like it was haunted so we painted symbols on the walls, some from albums, some from some of Dana's theology textbooks."

"Then, we found out this guy, Murdoch, used to live there so we made up some story to go along with that," he continued. "They told people, who told other people, and then these two guys put it on their stupid website. Everything just took a life of its own."

Dean blinked at him; something about what he said was familiar.

"I mean, I thought it was funny at first, but..." Craig shook his head sadly. "That girl's dead. It was just a joke, you know? I mean, none of it was real. We just made the whole thing up, I swear!"

Sam nodded. "All right."

As they turned away from Craig to leave the record store, Dean muttered to Sam, "If none of it was real, how the fuck do you explain Mordechai?"

-

Dean was trying so hard not to smirk as he watched Sam wiggle around in his seat, trying not to scratch at his crotch. While his brother was in the shower, he had sprinkled itching powder into Sam's underwear and now he was able to watch the whole thing unfold right in front of him.

If only shortcake was here, too, he sighed mentally.

Sam was in the middle of talking to Julia on the phone, telling her his thoughts about Mordechai being a tulpa when Dean interrupted him, "Dude, what's your problem?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Sam said avoidantly.

"What's going on?" Julia's voice came from the speaker.

"Nothing," Sam assured her. "So, these tulpas...There was this incident in Tibet in 1915. A group of monks visualized a golem in their head. They meditated on it so hard that they brought the thing to life out of thin air."

"Okay, well, there are thousands of people on the internet," Julia said thoughtfully.

"Exactly," Sam nodded, wincing as he picked at his itchy jeans. "I mean, Craig starts the story about Mordechai and then it spreads and goes online where countless people believe in the bastard."

"Wait a second," Dean spoke up. "People believe in Santa Claus so how come I'm not getting hooked up every Christmas?"

"Cause you're a bad person," Sam opened his laptop, still squirming, and pulled up a photo of the sigil that brought tulpas to life. He showed it to Dean. "And because of this. That's a Tibetan spirit sigil on the wall of the house. Craig said they were painting symbols from a theology textbook. I bet they painted this, not even knowing what it was."

On the phone, they could hear a thump of a book and then pages being flipped. "Okay, this book says that the sigil has been used to centuries, concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass. So, people who are on the Hell Hounds website, staring at the symbol and thinking about Mordechai...would that be enough to bring a tulpa to life?"

"It would explain why he keeps changing," Dean answered her.

"Right," Sam adjusted his jeans and added, "as the legend changes, people think different things so the legend itself changes. Like a game of telephone. That would also explain why the rock salt didn't work."

"Yeah, because he's not a traditional spirit," Dean stated, choking back his laughter as Sam started wiggling more than he had. "So, why don't we get this spirit sigil thing-y off the wall and off the website?"

"I don't think it's that simple," Julia sighed as they heard more pages being turned. "Once a tulpa is created, they take on a life of their own."

"Great," Dean grumped. "So, if he really is a thought form how the fuck are we supposed to kill an idea?"

"Well, that's not gonna be easy with these guys helping us," Sam showed him the video Ed and Harry put up on their website. "Since they posted the footage, their number of hits have quadrupled in the last day alone."

"Huh," Dean clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "I've got an idea but we have to find a copy store."

"What are you thinking?" Julia wondered.

"We're gonna give these boys a story and change the legend," Dean told her as Sam forcefully stood up and did a weird walk to relieve himself. "Dude, what the hell?"

"I think I'm allergic to our soap or something."

Dean snickered as Julia spoke up, "What? We use hypoallergenic soap, Sam."

Dean's laughter increased as Sam did a weird lunge in the middle of the motel room. Sam immediately stood up to his full height and glowered at his older brother.

"You did this?!"

Dean couldn't talk, he was laughing so hard.

"You're a fucking jackass!"

Dean continued to laugh, standing up from his chair to dodge the attack coming his way.

As Sam chased Dean around the room, they didn't notice as Julia sighed, "All right, I'm gonna hang up now."

-

After Dean and Sam told Ed and Harry about this new legend that they found—in which Mordechai would be killed with a pistol and wrought-iron bullets—and a little prank Sam pulled on Dean—where he superglued his beer bottle to the palm of his hand—they headed back to the Hell House to kill the tulpa once and for wall.

They entered the house with their firearms drawn and slowly walked their way around, looking for any sign of Mordechai.

Dean winced as he tightened his hand around his gun. "I barely have any skin left on my palm."

Sam snickered. "I'm not touching that line with a ten-foot pole."

Dean pressed his lips together, irritated, and flashed his light straight into Sam's eyes until he flinched. Once he was satisfied that he got some sort of revenge on his little brother, he continued on through the living room and into the kitchen. "So, do you think old Mordechai's home?"

"I don't know," Sam pointed his gun at the door that led to the basement.

"Me either."

Sam and Dean whipped around at the new voice, pointing their pistols in Ed and Harry's faces.

"Woah, woah!" Ed shouted while Harry lifted his hands in the air to show he meant no harm.

Sam raised his gun away from them. "What are you trying to do, get yourselves killed?"

"We're just trying to get a book and movie deal, okay?"

Before either of the irritated brothers could say another word, a crash came from the basement door. They instantly went back on alert, aiming their guns back at the door.

"Oh, shit," Ed muttered from behind them, focusing his camera on the action. "Hey, guys, do you wanna—you wanna open that door for us?"

"Why don't you?" Dean dared him.

None of them even stepped closer to the basement door as Mordechai burst through, growling at them while waving his ax in the air. Dean and Sam immediately took their shots but Mordechai didn't falter. It was only after full rounds that he disappeared but not in the way they wanted him too.

Sam and Dean immediately left the kitchen to check the other rooms on the first floor.

"Wait a minute?" Ed said breathlessly. "He's gone? He's gone."

"Did you get him?" Harry asked him urgently.

"Yeah, they got him."

"No," Harry shook his head. "On camera. Did you get him on camera?"

Ed faltered. "Well, I..."

Harry grabbed the camera from him. "Let me see it, let me see it."

He flipped open the little screen but was pushed to the floor as Mordechai appeared, smashing the camera with his ax. Dean ran back into the room after hearing some loud noises and glared at them.

"Hey, didn't you guys post that bullshit story we gave you?" he barked at them.

"Of course we did," Harry answered, getting to his feet as Sam came back into the room. "But then our server crashed."

Ed nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"So, it didn't take?" Ed and Harry shook their heads at Dean's question. "These guns don't work?"

"No."

"No."

"Great," Dean sighed and turned to his brother. "Sam, any ideas?"

Sam shrugged; no ideas. None whatsoever.

"We're getting out of here," Harry spoke up.

"Yeah," Ed agreed quickly. "Great idea."

They left the kitchen, only to run into Mordechai again. They screamed and ran for the front door but it was locked and they were unable to get out. They turned to see Mordechai and followed them to the front door and was slowly advancing toward them, raising his ax.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."

"The power of Christ compels you!" Ed shouted at the tulpa. "The power of Christ compels. THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU."

Any other time, what Ed was saying would make Dean laugh so hard. But, alas, now was not the time for amusement. Sam ran up to the front door and shouted at Mordechai, getting his attention.

"Hey! Come and get it, you ugly son of a bitch!"

While Sam and Mordechai fought and Ed and Harry ran out of harm's way, Dean found some lighter fluid in the kitchen. He quickly sprayed it all over the floor and onto the cupboards before heading into the living room to spray it there, too.

"DEAN!"

Hearing Sam's shout of help, Dean quickly grabbed a bottle of spray paint and pulled his lighter out of his pocket before running toward his brother and Mordechai.

"Hey!" he shouted at the tulpa before lighting his lighter and spraying the paint at the same time, creating a homemade blow torch.

Mordechai let Sam go and disappeared; Dean grabbed Sam and helped him run back into the living room.

"Mordechai can't leave the house and we can't kill him? We improvise."

He showed Sam his lighter and clicked it out before throwing it onto the floor. The old wooden beams lit up immediately and Sam and Dean took off, knocking down the front door and jumping off the porch.

As they ran into the trees, Sam turned to Dean incredulously. "That's your solution?" he pointed at the flaming house. "Burn the whole damn place to the ground?"

"Well, nobody will go in anymore," Dean shrugged. "I mean, look, Mordechai can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt. It's fast and dirty but it works."

"Well, what if the legend changes again and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?"

"Well, then, we'll just have to come back."

Sam sighed at Dean's nonchalant answer and turned back to the house. "Kind of makes you wonder," he said. "Of all the things we hunted, how many existed just because people believed in them."

Dean didn't answer but he thought about what Sam said as he continued to watch the house burn. It did kind of make him wonder but he couldn't really consider that. No matter if a supernatural was real just because someone believed in them, they were still killing them and saving people.

It was the family business, after all.

(Gif is not mine)