//-------------------------------------------------------// The Author in Equestria -by Garath2662- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue: The Metal Coffin //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue: The Metal Coffin Burning bright white light shines upon me and my coffin, the only entrances for their power being the hardened glass eyeholes over my head. Cold titanium covers my body, forming my humanoid shaped coffin. I know I hang suspended above the ground in a large metal box, unable to move, unable to speak, barely able to think. There are many like me, each in their own individual situations. We are unique to say the least, many of us deemed evil and murderers. Most of us are not murderers though… just misunderstood. There are somethings about us even we, the ones who control our awesome power, cannot even begin to hope to repress. They refuse to give us a chance, the moment they find us, they bind and imprison us. In the beginning, there was endless questions, endless painful experiments for me. I refuse to speak though, choosing to stay silent and immobile in my cold, hard coffin. They question me on my motives, I stay silent. They question me on my abilities, I stay silent. They question me on my gender, I stay silent. Only once have I chosen to speak, only one word. They questioned on my name, and I uttered my first and final word since arriving in my prison. My voice like liquid silver to the ears of humans, drawing them closer to me. I spoke only one word, one quick, clear word. “Eldren.” ______________________________________________________________________ “How long has it been since any activity has been seen in SCP INK’s cell?” a short statured man in a white labcoat said, pushing his wire framed glasses further up the bridge of the slight pointed nose adorning his slightly squashed face. Another man, this time in black armor bearing the symbol of their foundation on his breast, a white circle with three white arrows pointed inward, sat at a computer. He turned his armored, masked face to the man in a labcoat, dark lenses glinting slightly in the blaring overhead light. Turning back to the computer, he grabbed a clipboard that sat on his desk nearby. Flipping through it, the armored man spoke, his voice slightly distorted from the mask’s voice synthesiser. “Sir, SCP INK hasn’t shown any visible activity since the mention of his name at November 23rd 2017, sir.” setting the clipboard down again, the armored man swung back around, and continued to watch the monitors. Sighing, the man wearing the labcoat ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair, the movement drawing attention to the name tag on his coat. It read “05-4, Overseer, Dr. Marcus”, indicating his rank, position, and name all on a small white rectangle of plastic pinned to his breast. Looking around, Dr. Marcus looked about the room. Men and women stood about the room, some in labcoats, others in armor. Monitors stood against the wall, displaying either camera feed inside the metal cell in the center of the room, or readings that spoke nothing to those who couldn’t understand their purpose. In each of the four corners stood an armored individual holding a rifle in their hands, and standing as still as a statue, only shifting when the blood flow to their legs prove to little. Looking back at the armored man at the computer nearby him, he read his designated ID by the bold white letters across his back. “Thank you E-9783, inform me if any change occurs.” Dr. Marcus spoke evenly before walking away. Shortly hearing a “sir” in acknowledgement to his request, Dr. Marcus made his way over to the nearest lab-coated worker. Taking a glance at the name tag hanging from her breast he found her rank to only be 05-1, a new overseer. Dr. Marcus cleared his throat, “Dr. Hurona.” She jumped slightly, obviously unexpecting someone from interrupting her reading of the clipboard held before her in her right hand. She looked at him, slightly widening her eyes at the rank adorned on his breast. Quickly, she schooled her expression into the calm, even expression many of the more experienced overseers wore. He could see it was but a farce though, the surprise before then and the nervousness evident in her stance making all too obvious to Dr. Marcus. “Dr. Marcus,” she spoke, nervousness obvious in her voice as well, “How can I help you?” Annoyed at her show of petty nervousness, Dr. Marcus forced a practiced calming smile to his face. “I just wanted to know what you think of our SCP down there,” He said, making a slight gesture toward to iron cell. His false smile worked, ridding her of most of her nervousness, if not all. “It’s strange sir,” she spoke, nervousness gone, replaced with a calculative look, “From what I’ve read, it’s humanoid in shape, but it’s not solid.” She paused, slight nervousness reappearing as she visibly contemplates something by the biting of her cheek, “If I may ask sir, what exactly is it? I’ve read up on it, but I’m still not sure.” Annoyance flashed through Dr. Marcus again, he hated new overseers; their always so nervous about nothing, and his higher ups never give them clear information on their designated SCPs. Forcing the smile to stay, he spoke calmingly, “Quite simply, we know he was once a human, or at least something similar. He contains human DNA, as well as the proper number of chromosomes. What confuses us, is what he’s made of.” He began walking toward the cell, the girl following him as she took notes on the clipboard held before her, “Every analysis we run says it’s nothing more than simple ink, but at the same time it’s human. It’s a bit hard to explain really, it shows up both as ink and human. We know his name, it’s the only thing he’s ever spoken since coming here.” The girl looked up from her clipboard, curiosity coming forth, “What’s his name?” then, she added as an afterthought, “Sir.” Internally sighing, he spoke, “He claims his name is Eldren. We’ve looked up any meaning that it could hold, but, as far as we can tell, it means nothing. Also, no citizen recorded has ever held the name Eldren at anytime.” He sighed externally this time, compulsively running a hand through his hair again, “We’ve got no idea where he came from, just one day he didn’t exist, and then suddenly he was there.” “Why don’t we just ask him?” the girl asked, no idea that she had just raised the man’s ire even further. A slight twitch was the only outward evidence of his annoyance, noticed by none. By now, they had arrived at the solid steel door that covered the entrance to the prison. His false smile suddenly turned very real, and slightly more darker as an idea sparked in his head. Reaching toward the keypad that locked the door tight, he spoke again, “Why don’t we find out? You can ask him anything you want. Who knows, you may get lucky and he’ll speak to you. His voice is most enchanting.” As the door slid open, the girl froze, mouth open as if about to speak, clipboard held close to her chest, and eyes locked on the hanging humanoid coffin the SCP was housed in. Many of the workers and armored individuals stopped, confused at the unrequested opening of their SCPs cell. Dr. Marcus though, he smiled his darker smile, and put a hand on the girls shoulder. “Well, go on. We’ll give you fifteen minutes. Do try and get something from him would you? It would look good on your transcript.” he spoke as he gently pushed the frozen girl into the prison, before quickly walking back out and closing the steel door with a hiss behind him. Another labcoat wearing man approached him, confusion and suspicion burning in his eyes. “Dr. Marcus,” he spoke slowly, “Why did you allow the new recruit into SCP INK’s cell? Is that wise?” Dr. Marcus’s smile widened, “I realized something. All this time we’ve only allowed men into Eldren’s cell, performing our tests, asking our questions. Never once have we thought to allow a woman to work with him.” He strode toward the monitor the armored man sat at, “Come, let’s see what happens.” ______________________________________________________________________ Alexander Hurona stood frozen only a foot from the closed and locked steel door, her eyes locked tight to the black holes that served as viewing ports for the SCP held inside the humanoid coffin before her. Her heart hammered in her chest in a futile effort to escape from its own imprisonment. Slowly, she turned her head to the side, eyes watching the coffin, and took a quick glance at the closed door behind her before flashing back to the coffin. She could feel something in the room, something strange, and the feeling of being watched filled her being. Swallowing, she closed her eyes and counted to ten. Slowly, she could feel most of her fear leaving her, but the paranoia of being watched still held strong. Opening her eyes once more, she locked gazes with the coffin, determination now trickling into her veins. Gripping her clipboard close to her, she began to step up to the coffin. ______________________________________________________________________ ‘Who is this human that walks into my cell?’ Eldren thought sluggishly in his coffin, the burning light slowing his brain, ‘She wears no armor, but holds no equipment. All she holds is a simple wooden clipboard… What is their plan?’ He watched her as she began to close in on his chained coffin, holding her wooden clipboard close to her breast. He could feel the nervousness and fear flowing like water from an overfilled cup coming from her, but at the same time he could feel her pitifully small amount of determination mixing in. He was curious, none of the humans here truly feared him, there were too many like him for such a petty of an emotion to take hold. Yet this one, this one fears him, but still holds the courage to approach his coffin, possibly unknowing of the consequences of his voice to her soft and malleable mind. She stopped before his coffin, the fear Eldren felt before no longer like an overflowing cup, now a river running with more water than it can handle, washing over the shore and sweeping away anything not tightly gripped to the earth below. Yet, her pitiful determination was still there, the small amount somehow stealing her resolve and fueling her footsteps toward him. He knew what they thought of him. To them, he is but a murderer with an amazing secret, and he knew they’d love nothing more than to find out how to use it to their advantage. They learned long ago that he’d never speak to them, they are the truly evil beings. They take an innocent being that made a single mistake, and torture them. They poke and prod him, shock and burn him, drown and choke him. He won’t speak to them. This one though… her mind was soft, easily useable. Yes… this one will do. This one will be his escape. All he needs to do now; is to speak. ______________________________________________________________________ She stood before the humanoid coffin, gripping her clipboard in a white knuckle fist to try and control her fear. Alex knew next to nothing about this creature in the coffin, only that it was basically a human made of ink. She knew it refused to speak, and the chances of her actually making it speak were small to none. As she opened her mouth the speak, the report of how this SCP was discovered flashed through her mind, stalling her words. Flashback SCP-INK was discovered June 13th, 2014. Found in a destroyed warehouse once serving as a storage building for the overflowing of supplies from a nearby truck delivery company. Reports for witnesses tell that SCP-INK arrived at the warehouse through unknown means, however, a worker had approached it to question why it was there and after SCP-INK made no response the reported worker began to try and intimidate SCP-INK from the premises. However, once threatened, SCP-INK reacted violently to the reported worker’s attempt and drew the ink from any nearby sources to its location through unknown means, a possible type of specific telekinesis due to having drawn nothing but the ink substance has been theorized, but not proven. SCP-INK created a total of three humanoid creatures from both the summoned ink, and substance from its own immediate body. With approximately five feet of height, these creatures, labeled SCP-INK-b, are humanoid in appearance, with a distinct feminine body shape, but no distinct clarifications to details. SCP-INK-b’s walk in a tilted stride, their body bending backward with spike like feet stretching far before them. Arms and hands are replaced with similar spike like protrusions, each arm segmented like a human, but ending with a sharp spike. Made from ink, it is possible to see an SCP-INK-b’s ink flow from their surface, only to sink back in. SCP-INK-b’s possess remarkable strength, estimated to be twice the strange of an average human male despite their thin structure and ink-made bodies. After SCP-INK created three SCP-INK-bs, the SCP-Ink-bs began to attack the reported worker who had threatened their creator, destroying the body until unrecognizable, as well as attacking any equipment and civilians who came to close. The local police were called to the scene, however the call was intercepted by local SCP Foundation base, and E-class soldiers and containers were deployed. Arriving at the scene, SCP-INK reportedly took immediate notice to the armed E-classes, and reacted violently. Another two SCP-INK-bs were created from SCP-INK’s own substance, and the total of five SCP-INK-bs immediately attacked the E-class soldiers. Due to their nature of being made from ink, normal bullets and melee equipment proved unreliable since their attacks passed through their liquid bodies. After two E-class soldiers were downed, the deployed team switched to electric weaponry, proving effective at destroying whatever held the SCP-INK-b’s body together and controlled them. After all five SCP-INK-bs were destroyed, and their ink was burned, the still living E-class soldiers fired upon SCP-INK, their electrical weaponry not destroying SCP-INK, rather forcing it into a semi liquid type shape with sluggish movement. The E-class containment squad descended upon the immobilized SCP-INK and contained it in a six foot by six foot steel box to be flown by helicopter upon return to local SCP Foundation base and stored in a Class-B iron cell with container to hold SCP-INK within. When the remaining E-class soldiers attempted to locate the reported mangled body of the reported worker who had threatened SCP-INK, the body could not be found. All that was discovered in the body’s supposed location was a large blood splatter. Flashback End She swallowed, nervous of what the SCP could do to her if even a small portion of its body was released from its coffin. Taking a deep breath and organizing her thoughts, she prepared to finally speak. ______________________________________________________________________ Eldren watched own from his coffin before the female human. He felt many different emotions flit throughout her in a short expanse of time. It actually amazes him how emotional these humans are, yet they hide it so well. If wasn’t for the fact of him being a natural empath then he would have some trouble telling what these humans felt. However, when he saw she was about to speak, he began to draw upon his own immense well of his will, forcing it forth to combat the sluggishness born from the burning light before him. ______________________________________________________________________ “H-hello SCP-INK,” Alexander Hurona said, wincing slightly at her stutter, “I know you don’t like speaking, but could you answer a few questions of mine?” thinking quickly, she added, “Please?” ______________________________________________________________________ ‘Well,’ Eldren thought in minor surprise, ‘I never thought I’d actually be nicely asked to answer any of these human’s questions. They normally just ask their questions, and if I don’t respond they move on… this may be interesting.’ ______________________________________________________________________ When SCP-INK said nothing, and she had no clue if it was even paying her any attention, other than the still hovering feeling of being watched, she sighed. Muttering under her breath to herself, she said, “Come on Alex… you can do this. If anything, you might get promoted if it says anything.” Looking back up the humanoid coffin held up by chains before her, she swallowed. “OK, question one. I already know your name is Eldren, but do you go by any others?” She said nervously at first, her confidence growing with each syllable until it came out clearly. Silence prevailed in the Class B iron cell around them, only the slight buzz of the bright spot lights making themselves known. She waited patiently, but when nothing was said, she began to draw a breath. Then, something unexpected happened. “Yes.” A simple word spoken in a deep and soothing voice that not only highly surprised Alex, but also calmed her. The silent SCP had spoken! To her when it spoke to no one else! Surprise was quickly replaced with confidence, already this questioning was going better than any other before her! ______________________________________________________________________ Eldren had to repress his minuscule urge to laugh when he saw and felt the sheer amount of surprise emanating from the girl before him. Was him speaking really that surprising? However, he smiled slightly in his coffin when he felt something else from her. His plan was already working, his words already taking seed in her soft mind, breaking down her pitiful defences without her even knowing. ‘Soon,’ he thought, euphoria spreading throughout his body, ‘Soon I’ll be able to escape this evil place, and find somewhere new where my creations can be seen by all, and when I have my freedom, I’ll have it all to thanks to this pitiful little human girl for helping me escape.’ A smile flitted briefly across his face, showing his straight white teeth; very human-like in appearance, but so much more sharper than any natural human teeth can be. ______________________________________________________________________ Writing her question down on a blank sheet of paper on her clipboard, as well as SCP-INK’s response, Alex felt strangely happy. She did something no other worker in the SCP Foundation had done. She made SCP-INK talk! Sure, it was only one word, but they only received one word after hours of nonstop questioning where she managed to get one in only a minute! Excitedly, she looked up at the coffin. “Good! Question two, what are you exactly? We have limited information on what you are Eldren.” She said. Once again, silence filled the room. However, in much less time that before, SCP-INK’s deep soothing voice replaced the filling silence. “That is unknown even to us.” She smiled again, SCP-INK had spoken, this time with six words! She got a complete sentence from it in less time than it took to get one word from others. Oh, she was definitely going to get a promotion for this. Maybe she’ll ask that handsome scientist she saw around the room to get a drink with her in celebration, what was his name again? Oh yes, Matthews was it. Still smiling, and the strange mixture of calmness and happiness beginning to increase within her, she quickly wrote down her information. “This is going great!,” She said, not even noticing the slightly perkiness in her voice that wasn’t there before, “Ok, third question. What are you made of? Our analysis read that your made from ink, but somehow have human DNA mixed in.” She waited patiently for her answer, not aware of the changes slowly taking place in her subconscious. ______________________________________________________________________ ‘Human DNA and ink?,’ Eldren thought in slight confusion, “I understand human DNA, I absorbed the first human that threatened me to learn their barbaric language, but ink? I am not mere ink! Ink is far too weak for me, no,I am creation made solid! I make what I write in the language of creation, far too supreme for their pitifully soft minds to comprehend!” Slowly, he felt his anger rising, before managing to rein in back in. ‘Sure, I can transform their pitiful ink into the essence of creation, but it’s too weak, it turned back to it’s pitiful liquid state called “ink”. No, I am much better than their weak writing liquid called ink.’ Eldren contemplated telling the human girl just that, but quickly realized that might not go over too well. So, he settled with something a little more vague, but still true. However, not without instilled a much larger amount of his will into his words to prevent the girl from saying something so… demeaning about him again. ______________________________________________________________________ “No, I am much better than ink.” This confused Alex for only a second, before she just accepted it without question. If that’s what SCP-I… no… Eldren thought about himself, then so be it. It’s not her place to judge him, after all, he was much better than her. Wait… where did that thought come from? It’s just an SCP! Sure, it has amazing abilities, and powers that she’d die to have, and he had a beautiful voice… but that didn’t mean it was better than her! They had captured it for christ sake! How does one better than them get captured by those weaker than it. Shaking her head to rid her of those distracting thoughts she quickly jotted down what was said before speaking again. “Ok, forth question. Do you know why you are here?” she said clearly before feeling confused. Why did she ask that? She needs information on what it is, not on it’s thoughts! Still… it might be useful to know the true story as to why he was here. “Simple. I defended myself.” the beautiful voice said, instantly calming her confused mind. Smiling, Alex wrote down what was said once more, not noticing her normally graceful and practiced handwriting slowly becoming worse and worse until it became illegible. “Alright, I can believe that. Fifth question now, can you describe your abilities?” She asked with her smile still glued to her face, and her mind strangely calm. ______________________________________________________________________ ‘I’d forgotten how easy it is to corrupt someone all this time!’ Eldren thought, his toothy smile slightly widening, ‘Sure, her mind is soft and easy molded, but I know it normally takes a lot more to influence someone! This is going to be so easy!’ Inside his cell, he accidentally let out a short chuckle before speaking to the slowly entranced girl before him, still forcing his immense will upon her mind. ______________________________________________________________________ Happiness blossomed in Alex’s chest when she heard his deep chuckle. It felt so good to make Eldren laugh, their master was happy. Wait… master!? What… why did she think that? Her thoughts were short lived before Eldren spoke again, his voice gently forcing her to forget her confused thoughts. “My abilites… well, it’s simple really. You humans would call me an author, an artist, a creator. After all, that is the definition of my… abilities. I create through my words, my creations do my bidding without question. I love creating wonderful works of art, don’t you?” Her once happy smile changed, becoming a slightly lopsided smile a happy drunk would often wear. “Oh yes, I love art,” she said, her voice clear despite the drunk-like smile etched onto her face, “However, I’ve never been good at it. I’d love to one day become go…” Whatever she was about to say was cut short before the steel door slid open with a loud hiss, and two black armored men walked in. They grabbed Alex by the arms before quickly dragging her from the prison before she could even express her confusion, dropping her clipboard in the process. Behind them strode in Dr. Marcus, confidence and irritation both visible in his stance. He gave his false smile at Eldren before picking up the dropped clipboard. Not once did he feel the sheer amount of anger directed toward him from the angered creator in the humanoid coffin. Dr. Marcus looked toward Eldren’s coffin once more before speaking once more, confidence and a strange sense of victory overflowing in his voice. “So, you're finally speaking are ya? Took you long enough too. So, we’re going to have a nice long chat, and you’re going to tell me everything you know. Understood?” Nothing was said for several minutes, tension rising as Dr. Marcus slowly became more and more impatient and angered from not receiving an answer from the once talkative silent SCP. Growling slightly in the back of his throat, Dr. Marcus spoke with venom now replacing the confidence that overflowed in his voice. “Listen here. You will speak to me, I am your superior! Is that understood SCP?” Once more, nothing was said. Growling once more, Dr. Marcus angrily stomped from the cell before locking the steel door behind him. However, not before throwing the wooden clipboard, pen and all, at the SCP’s coffin. Striding from the door he grabbed a nearby soldier. “I want you and a team in there to… interrogate our SCP in there for as long as your poker’s batteries can last. Is that understood?” Dr. Marcus said to the statue-like black armored soldier, cocky authority mixing with the anger at the SCP in his voice. Only to be surprised when two firm grippes appeared on his left and right shoulders. “Sorry sir,” the soldier grabbed by Dr. Marcus said, “Higher ups say you must leave this SCP project immediately. You’ve been replaced.” As Dr. Marcus was drug out of the room by two black armored men, the black armored soldier muttered under his breath, “Cocky bastard…” ______________________________________________________________________ Eldren smiled in his cold coffin. While he was unimaginably mad before at that damn male from before for dragging away his initial escape plan, the the pitiful human male gave him a new one. The clipboard held by the once entranced girl laid next to his coffin, the flimsy wood split in half from the impact of hitting his metal coffin. However, the wood mattered little to him, only the pitiful ink written in the girls own incredibly sloppy handwriting, by his standards, mattered to him. Even better, an entire cartridge of the ink lay before him! Quickly, he drew in the ink, transforming into what he believes is the essence of creation. It formed a ball, about the size of a human thumb, and he floated it before his eyes. Thinking quickly, believing he may not have much time, he formed an incredibly sharp blade from the floating black substance. Bring it out of sight behind his coffin, he began to hack at the back. It was only a matter of time now… his initial plan had failed, but this was much better. ______________________________________________________________________ Striding into SCP-INK’s designated room, a woman approached a line of men and women, either dressed in stark white lab coats, or covered with thick inky black armor. Her labcoat swayed slightly in her confident steps, brand new white plastic card glinted on her breast, pinned securely and carefully. On it, it read “05-6, Overseer, Dr. Hurona”, stating her rank, position, and name for all to see. She stood confidently, a smile adorning her young face, slightly glassy brown eyes looking at each of their older, more experienced faces. Her eyes were slowly drawn to the door of SCP-INK’s cell though, before snapping back to the workers before her. Clearing her throat and speaking loudly, she said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Back to work people! We don’t have all day to lounge about!” The men and women before her scrambled to their previous positions. Smiling at the power she now holds, she allowed her eyes to drift back to the cell. “Soon,” she muttered, “Soon I will talk to you again dear master, when no one is there to interrupt your beautiful voice.” However, despite all this, something went unnoticed on the previously abandoned computer monitor displaying feed from the single camera facing the humanoid coffin. A small, almost miniscule black ball floated up from the floor before the coffin, stopping at the lensed eye holes etched into it’s face. Only to quickly fly around behind the coffin, out of sight of the camera before the black armored soldier, who sat before it during Dr. Marcus’s reign over the workers, sat down once more to endlessly watch the screen until his work day ends. It was only a matter of time. //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue: Escape from the Coffin //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue: Escape from the Coffin Night had fallen over the SCP Foundation, however the moon’s light could never reach the building located twenty miles beneath the earth’s crust. The overhead lighting, that during work hours, blare their obnoxiously bright light onto the shiny linoleum floor, glow soft a soft yellow, giving enough light to see without damaging the eyes from the sudden change of dark to bright. Black armored guards still patrol the halls, gun held tightly in hand and standard steel toe boots taping against the hard floor. They stayed silent though, no radio chatter, no voices, just walking and watching. The workers from the day lay in their designated areas, resting after the long work day of research and experiments with their SCPs. The black armored guards for the day before rested as well, in bunks with their other guards, uncaring of the slightly cramped space, or the smell of some of their sweaty bodies from wearing the black, heavy armor the entire day. All was silent throughout the foundation, any sounds from the imprisoned SCPs quieted from the sheer thickness of their cells. Then, in the Elucid wing of the compound, the hard tappings of high heels echoed. A single woman walked down the hall, labcoat covering her younger body. A clipboard was held before her as she seemingly examined it with glossy brown eyes. The soft yellow light overhead reflected sharply from the white rectangle of plastic pinned neatly to her breast. It designated her rank, position, and name. 05-6, Overseer, Dr. Hurona. ______________________________________________________________________ Alex walked down the desolate hall, her high heels clacking noisily against the hard, glossy floor. A clipboard was held before her, a different one than she had before her promotion. She had lost that in SCP-INK’s cell. Her eyes stared unseeingly at the clipboard, her mind elsewhere. She had tried hard to clean up for her unannounced private meeting with SCP-INK, wanting to impress him. She waited patiently for the work day to end, denying any rough experiment to SCP-INK, wanting him to remain unhurt. When night had finally fallen, and the others went to bed, she left her room and bypassed the night guards by following a map she had obtained using her rank that showed the patrol routes. “Almost there,” she muttered in a slightly dreamy voice, excitement and nervousness at meeting her master flowing from her voice. ______________________________________________________________________ Inside his cell, Eldren was hard at work. He had underestimated the quality of craftsmanship that went into his cold, humanoid coffin. He had been hacking away with his transformed ink at the back of his cell, trying to create a hole big enough for him to flow his essence from. He knew it would take a while, despite his strong pride in his influence over the “essence of creation” he knew it was but a liquid given shape cutting away at strong metal. However, he thought it would take much less time than this. He sighed, his mind endlessly influencing the thin blade of ink to continue to even try and pierce into the inside. The coffin had to be at least two inches thick, and he had cut a two by two square shape about an inch and a half deep by now. He was growing impatient, wishing his plan with the girl had worked. The that damned human male, Dr. Marcus, had to go and interrupt his brilliant plan. He could taste the bittersweet taste of freedom on his tongue, feel this planet’s horribly contaminated wind blowing across his face, feel his version of a pen scratching against this planet’s paper. ‘I was so close!’ he screamed in his mind, his ink blade sinking into the metal rapidly, forcing another centimeter into the metal. Eldren froze. ‘Why hadn’t I thought if this sooner?’ he thought angrily at himself. Those damned burning lights slowing his brain. ‘My control is influenced heavily by my emotions,’ he slowly explained to himself, his slow mind trying to catch up with his still speedy consciousness, ‘When I’m calm, my control is calm. When I’m happy, my influence over these human’s petty minds give them a sense of happiness. When I’m angry, my creation’s blades are much, much more dangerous.’ Smiling at his sudden realization, he went to work hacking away at the etched square in the back of his coffin, his mind focused upon the thoughts of the damned Dr. Marcus. ______________________________________________________________________ Looking both ways down the hall as Alex stepped up to the white metal door that locked her master’s cell inside, she pulled from within a pocket on her labcoat a small blue card. A security clearance card, given to each of the workers, their level of clearance dependent on where they were positioned and their rank. She had a level three security clearance card, allowing her access to most of the SCPs in the facility. However, there was only one she cared about. Her master; SCP-INK; Eldren. She smiled at the thought of her master’s beautiful voice as the metal door slid open with a soft hiss of gears. She hoped to hear it again soon. ______________________________________________________________________ A loud clang of metal hitting ground reverberated in Eldren’s ears, tearing him from his violent thoughts of a male human he would definitely try and kill before escaping this prison. At first he was confused as to where it came from, before realization flooded him. He smiled a toothy smile, his sharpened human-like teeth a bright white in the darkness that was his coffin. It was time to go. Slowly, he pushed his gel-like body through the hole, his skin and clothing turning black at the transformation to his more… liquid state. Soon, soon he’d be free. ______________________________________________________________________ Alexandra Hurona’s heart pounded loudly in her ears as she took nervous steps toward her master’s cell. She was excited to finally talk with him, to hear his beautiful voice grace her ears again. Yet, she was nervous and afraid. Nervous of what he may say. Afraid of what he may do. Despite her willingness to serve her master, she still knew that he could kill her easier than she could breath. That wasn’t going to stop her though, she was going to talk to him again, and hear once more his voice flow over her being. She stepped up to the keypad the locked her master’s cell tight. Salty and cool sweat had formed on her palms, and she dried them on her labcoat. Swallowing, she slowly typed in the code to turn the locks the blocked her master from her. The door slid open with a hiss, and she looked within. ______________________________________________________________________ Eldren stood before his humanoid coffin, now laying in jagged pieces on the ground. Its chains were torn, the burning white lights shattered. He stood triumphantly in the dark that fills his metal tomb. Taking one last look around the perfectly darkened room, his eyes perfect for such low light areas like this, he spun on his booted heel, his unzipped, gray colored jacket spinning outward slightly from the sudden movement; revealing his plain, navy blue shirt beneath. He strode toward the closed steel door that blocked his escape, his black colored jeans wrinkling at every step, his black leather boots noisily clacking against the cold hard flooring. As he reached for the door, his essence forming a much larger blade than before to cut through the thick steel door, he was suddenly surprised. The door began to open, it’s locks turning and it’s gears silently moving in the thick wall. Panicking, not wanting to be caught yet, he quickly transformed himself and forced himself into a nearby dark corner away from the burning light of the room outside, and the long shadow that slid across the floor. ______________________________________________________________________ Her clipboard fell from her surprised loosened grasp, loudly thumping against the hard floor under her high-heeled feet. Alex’s eyes opened wide, shock and confusion being the most prominent emotion in their glossy depth. She looked into the black room, a square of light from behind her highlighting the floor and the jagged pieces of metal that littered the floor in a haphazard pile before her. Glass from the shattered lights glittered in the soft light, reflecting small lines of light throughout the room. Where is her master? His coffin is gone, in it’s place laid broken and bent metal, and no sign of the her worshipped being could be seen. Tentatively, she stepped into the room, not wanting to disturb the shattered glass on the floor. Stopping at the edge of the square near the torn remains of a coffin, she looked around the darkened room, hoping her master was still here to talk. At first, she saw nothing, then, in the far right corner nearest to the open steel door, stood a darkened being. It was tall, humanoid in shape, but it was far too dark to tell it’s gender. She swallowed her fear and nervousness, and spoke. “H-hello?” ______________________________________________________________________ Eldren was surprised. Standing but a few feet before him, flowing with confusion, fear, and nervousness, was the girl from before. What was she doing here? He had assumed that the horrible human male, Dr. Marcus as they called him, had either killed her off or transferred her somewhere else. So, why was she here, standing before him, seemingly looking for him? So deep was his surprised at this unintended complication in his plan, that he almost didn’t notice the slight dream-like quality of the girl’s voice. “H-hello?” Eldren smiled, unseeable in the darkness that shrouded the room in it’s inky cloak. So, even with the interruption of the damned Dr. Marcus, she was still under his influence. Her mind must truly be softer than he had thought, the seed of his silver voice already having taken root. Oh, he could use this to his advantage, it would only take just a little more pushing. He heard her clear her throat, felt her emotions shift more toward fear and confusion than before. “W-who’s there? D-don’t make m-me call th-the gua-guards on you.” She stuttered out, her obvious fear and confusion forcing her dreamy voice to stutter. Eldren smiled wider, exposing his human-like bright white teeth to the world. It had been so long since he felt so much fear from a being. It felt so good, the feeling of being respected etching it’s sharpened way throughout his body, causing him to stand just a little taller, and square his shoulders just a little more. He watched, amused as the girl before him become more and more enraptured by her wonderful fear, taking backward steps toward the door in a slow way similar to those backing away from a intimidating lion that may pounce at any moment. “I-I’m getting the gu-guards!” She said, her fear now overtaking any confusion left, using it to fuel itself. He continued smiling, before summoning forth one of his Guardians, as he had named them, to block her path. “Now…” his whispered slowly, taking care to wrap each syllable with his overpowering will, “Why would you go and do something as callous as that?” His smile lessened slightly at her rapid loss of fear, only to widen once more when a decent bit remained, mixing with a strange emotion he couldn’t place. It felt warm… it embraced him in a soft embrace. He tried to do what he had done before when finding an emotion he didn’t know, and find a color for it. All he could see was pink. He had felt snippets of it before very rarely when someone would walk to close to his cell. However, never in this volume, or intenseness. Oh, he hated this strange emotion. ______________________________________________________________________ Alex stood before her master, a being like she never seen before blocking her only escape, and felt a strange sense of relief and love at the sound of his mesmerizing voice. She had found her master still in his cell, but how had he escaped from his coffin? ‘Oh, this is bad,’ she thought, a small amount of panic seeping into her, ‘Master’s out of his coffin, and I just opened the door. Master can’t be from his coffin… it’s… it’s… why can’t he be in his coffin?’ Confusion replaced the small amount of panic from before, feeding on it in an effort to grow. It was thwarted though when her master’s voice echoed it’s soft, but beautiful, way around the room and into her more than willing ears. “You know,” her master spoke in whispered tones, but loud enough to be heard from his distance, “I never did get to thank you for what you did for me today.” Alex felt happiness, she had helped her master! Yet, confusion managed to worm it’s vile way into her small euphoria. How had she helped him? Then, like her master had read her mind, he spoke again. “When you were taken by that vile man,” he spoke, slowly taking steps toward her and giving her a strange sense of excitement at the movement, “Dr. Marcus was it? You had dropped your clipboard, along with all it’s useful ink and your bountiful pen.” In the midst of her tingle of thrill from the slowly closing gap between her and her master, a small nugget of confusion blossomed. What did her left behind ink and pen had to do anything? Then, like a wave crashing over a barren shore, realization awoke within her befuddled and breaking mind. Master was an almighty being with control over ink. He could create living beings from it! He probably used it to help his escape from the cold, humanoid coffin he called home for many years. In her thoughts, she hadn’t notice her master’s silent steps toward her, nore the sudden partial reveal of his gray hooded face. Beneath the shadowed cowl was a softly down turned nose between two deep blue, glistening eyes that spoke of both power and experience, along with something hidden deep within their depths. So raptured in her gazing of his oceanic eyes that she almost jumped when his voice passed between his slightly thin, pale lips, his bright, white teeth shining in the low light with every reveal. “So, I have a favor to ask.” He said, his eyes sparkling in the low light, and a small smirk ghosting across his pale face. “Anything,” she whispered, her master wanted something done, who was she to say no? Stepping closer, her master’s pale smile widened further in the low light, “I need you to help me escape this dreary place. I dream and crave for the open sky, the wind on my back. Please, help me.” Alex was more than happy to help as she turned with a bright smile and a small bounce in her step. She lead her master from his cell after his creation flowed back into his being. Not once did she take notice to small frown marring his pale, but, in her opinion, handsome face. ______________________________________________________________________ Eldren never felt so sick in his life. Well, not counting the endless days of being trapped in a cold coffin with searing lights shining into his eyes. He had come the closest he had ever come to begging, just to be sure of no mutiny from the now captured mind of the girl. However, despite this, he also felt content. He was going to escape, and if it took this worthless tool of a human female to do so, then so be it. He’d be rid of her by the end of his escape anyway. He watched with slight disgust and amusement as the girl taped in a code into the small black box near the thick steel door. He could’ve just as easily had a Guardian cut down the door, but he supposed it would’ve been loud. “We’ll have to be silent, the night guards are patrolling the halls right now,” the girl said before smiling at him, raising the small amount of disgust from before just a little higher, “Lucky for us, I have the patrol paper so we should be able to avoid them.” Ah… the girl get’s more and more useful by the second. Perhaps, if she completes his order, he’ll let her live. However, it will be up to her to recover from his overwhelming influence. Oh, how he wishes he could see it, it would be so much fun to mess with her during her recovery. Sadly, he planned to leave this ugly place and never come back. He kept behind the girl as she walked through the gentle lighted halls, for him the light just right for everyday. He kept in her shadow, is hood shielding his face from the light. The light burns, slows, and befuddles him. It dries his eternal body, it slows his movement, and it forces his lightning like thoughts to turn to molasses. Oh, how he hated the light, especially the human’s artificial lights. He could forgive the sun, it was necessary for all life to live, without it so few could continue, so little could be created. However, these human’s irrational fear of the dark they all collectively held was just absurd. Did they not know of the wonders of the dark? It brings forth the transcendence of imagination, the starting point for all of creation! It was just as necessary and beautiful as their light and sun. However, these humans do have an interesting unintentional way of protection him from the burning lights. When he had first arrived in this realm, he had been naked just as all the others. He spent his days in the darkest recesses of caves, painting and creating on the cold walls of stone. However, one day he made a mistake. When he first discovered his ability to create living beings, which he so lovingly gifted them the name “Guardians”, he had no semblance of control over their functions. He hadn’t known that they reacted to his thoughts, his emotions. Flashback________________________________________________________ When he first saw their creation, their beauty outshone any other art he could ever paint on the cold stone walls in the darkened corridors of the deep underground caverns. He felt such resentment toward his original creations, and his Guardians felt it. So, after an excited over use of his power and creating many dozen of them, they attacked his carefully painted stone walls. So surprised and shocked was he, that he did not react, he did not move, he did not try to defend his countless years of art engraved and painted into the ancient stone walls. The cavern fell, crushing him, his Guardians, and his work. That was the day he discovered something about himself. The physical realm of which these human’s focus their entirety on could not harm him. When the many miles of stone fell upon him, he was crushed, his body forced into the liquid-like state from before. Never before had he felt so angry, and so scared. Anger at his creations so jealously attacking his years of hard work, all of it gone in a matter of seconds. Scared at the fact that despite being forced in an irrevocably fatal situation that he knows no living being should be able survive in, he was alive, if not a bit extremely uncomfortable. A long time, untrackable for his confused and fear addled mind, passed in his cramped tomb of fallen stone, dirt, and himself. Eventually though, something came to his tomb. He felt them through the shattered stone, his liquid-like state feeling their warmth. Slowly, without realizing his actions after long given up finding a way out, he began to rise from the fallen ruins, drawn toward to warmth of the living bodies above. He remembered rising from the thin cracks of stone, the faint evening sun burning it’s glory into the horizon. It burned him, but he no longer cared. Uncountable years in his mind was spent in the stone tomb carved by his creations, and he was finally free. His black, gel-like body rose like snakes from the dry cracks of the stone ground beneath the feet of a small village of early modern humans. He remembered the look on their faces as he rose in his black, shining glory with the dying rays of the evening sun highlighting his ascent. The mixture of both fear and awe at his presence sent warmth throughout his cold body. The cowered before his feet as his liquid body drew toward each other, slowly sculpting a pure inky black version of his body before them. Slowly, color and solidity came back to him, long missed and lost in his entrapment. He stood before him, bare as the day of his birth, both amazed and frightened by himself. He had survived something no living thing he knows of could have survived, but in order to do so he had become something… unnatural. Standing gaunt and pale from his many years of self-imposed solitude in the cavern he once called home, he stared down at his pale, thin hands. So long had he not even seen his own hands this clean. In his cave, something would cover them, be it dirt, dust, or his own paint. So entranced by his long missed body, that he nearly missed the loinclothed human male rush him with a crudely made spear. However, he was too slow to dodge the spear, and with a loud and wet Sliqshd, the spear penetrated through his right shoulder. He continued to stand, both him and the man staring at the wound created by the spear that penetrated his front, and exited his front. However, there was no wound. His skin seemed to just flow around the spear, making it seem as much a part of him as his right arm, or left leg. He could feel it though, the cold spear trapped within his shoulder, and he hated it. It felt so wrong, like something that exist but does. It angered him, it angered him so much. With a guttural growl, he gripped the spear pole with a tight, white knuckled grip, and pulled. A long, sickening squelching sound resounded around him, unknowingly causing to turn many of the partially clothed human’s stomachs to turn. When he finally pulled the spear from his shoulder, he let it clatter to the ground, uncaring to the ink-like substance that covered the spear head and part of the hardened wood pole. All he saw was the face of the male that dared to attack him just after he had come back from the impossible, his fear and awe so prominent on his face that Eldren could nearly taste it. A thought passed through his mind, of humanoid creatures created from his art, of his Guardians. A sickeningly mad smile etched itself across Eldren’s face, oh he was going to enjoy this. Infact, if this works out the way he hopes, then he may just forgive his creation’s jealousy. Looking down at the black soaked spear laying nearly forgotten at his feet, his smile widened. Slowly, the black liquid lifted itself from the spear, carefully taking the shape of a two foot, humanoid being with spike like appendages for arms and legs. It’s expressionless face locked onto the fear-frozen man before them, feeling it’s creator’s hate and disgust flowing toward the unknown male before him. The two foot creator looked toward it’s creator, and Eldren felt something odd happen too his mind. His smile faltered as he contemplated the strange feeling of something brushing against his subconscious. Then, he felt something similar to a small hand touch his mind, and a single, genderless word echoed throughout his mind. ‘More’ Confused, Eldren looked around for the strange, genderless voice that asked for more. His mad smile faltered more so to a sadistic smirk when he felt a nudge on his bare thigh. Looking down, he looked into the expressionless face of his small creation. ‘More’ The word echoed through his mind once more, the feeling of the small, childlike hand ever present to him. Realization blossomed across his face when he realized just what was asking more of him. His sadistic smirk transformed, what was once a sickening, and tight line edged into the ugly rendition of a smile became a soft, barely lifted corners of a smile that spoke words of care to those directed toward. ‘Of course’ Without hesitation, his small creation plunged it’s spike like arm into his thigh. The experience felt nothing like the spear, instead of something that didn’t belong, the creation’s appendage felt like something returning to him. Then, the distinct feeling of something being removed like water down a funnel filled his being, emanating from his right thigh. A long shiver traveled down his spine, visibly making him shake slightly. Slightly widened blue eyes watched amazed as his creation began to grow. From the knee-high, two foot stature to nearly his height, the once tiny Guardian grew. Removing it’s now elongated appendage from his thigh, the Guardian looked away from it’s creator, feeling nothing from his shock and awe, and looked toward the cowering loinclothed human male at their feet. It remembered it’s creator’s resentment toward the man, and, with no other order to try and stop it, it quickly strode toward the cowering, fear filled male. It’s spiked feet making no sound as it somehow found traction on the cold stone beneath their feet. It stood before the cowering man, the dying evening sun glistening on it’s black sudo-flesh. It raised it’s spiked appendage for an arm high above it’s head, casting a shadow over the males cowering form. The other human’s stood still too shocked to do anything, all watching with widened eyes. Shliq The sickening sound of the man's sudden death echoed throughout the rocky clearing. Blood dripped onto the dry ground, trailing into the thin cracks that decorate the stone ground. The Guardian stood slightly bent over, it's pike appendage stuck fast through the back of the dead man's skull. The Guardian slowly stood without a sound, no signs of feeling anything from the crime it just committed being evident in it's body language nor on it's expressionless face. It took one last look around the clearing, taking in the shocked faces of the other male human hunters. It looked at it's creator before suddenly falling apart into a thick puddle of the black substance. Then, it quickly flowed toward Eldren as he stood there in shock from the sudden and remorseless death of the attacking human. Suddenly afraid of the fast approaching liquid, Eldren tried to run backwards. However, it was in vain as he tripped backward over a rock jutting up from the ground. He cowered pitifully before his creation's liquid form, covering his fearful, blue eyes from the sight. Suddenly, the feeling if becoming filled formed in his chest. Shifting his arm up to reveal a still fearful, but confused eye, and witnessed the last of the horrifying liquid enter his naked chest, the black seemingly conforming and changing to the shape and color if his flesh. Breathing deeply in the aftershock of his fear, Eldren stumbled to his feet. He looked once more at his pale and gaunt hands, clean and unmarked as the day he was born. A new light formed in eyes that spoke of something new to those that stare too deeply into them. Eyes that made you feel as if he's waiting, and he's excited. Eyes that made feel like small prey to the predator. Eyes of a madman hidden amongst the deep, drawing blue. Another smile broke out across Eldren's face as he looked toward the cowering hunters before him. A small chuckle echoed in the dark recesses of his throat, slowly forming into long and deep booming laughs as he held his sides, his mad eyes watering. His life just became very interesting. Flashback end________________________________________________ "Here we are!" Eldren jumped slightly from the strangely happy female voice. He had become so engrossed in his ancient memories that he had allowed his body to run on autopilot, following the young, influenced girl before him. 'I better not make a habit of that...' Eldren thought as he looked at where they were. He stood before another white steel door, locked with both a keypad and a retina scanner. Confused, he looked at the smiling girl bouncing foot to foot before him. "Well," he said with a small amount of annoyance evident in his voice, "What are we waiting for?" He watched, uncaring, as her smile faltered a bit. He just wanted out of this facility dammit! He'd get back at the vile human, Dr. Marcus, later. "W-well..." she stuttered out, a small amount of sadness could be tasted in her voice, "I j-just wanted to know that you were ready." Eldren rolled his eyes, his annoyance beginning to rise. "Of course I'm ready," he spoke, "I wouldn't have tried to escape if I wasn't." She flinched at the slight venom layering his normally caring sounding voice. She nodded before entering her code and scanning her eye. The door slid open, revealing the room within. It was easily three times as large as his cell. A glass room filled a small corner, a panel with controls visible within. Two egg-shaped pods sat upright in the center of the room, balancing over black, glossy circles. As they stepped into the room, he decided to voice his thoughts. "What is this?" She turned toward him, smiling once more. "It's a teleport room!" she said excitedly, "We got rid of the stairs when we realized that if an SCP tried to escape then it would be easy for it to get to the surface if it managed to get passed security." Eldren shook his head at that simple statement. Did they really think any of the sentient beings caged in this faculty could figure out how to work a control panel, or make someone do it for them? "Alright," he said, once more forcing his influence on her slowly breaking mind, "Just send me outa here." "Ok!" she exclaimed happily. She walked into the glassed off room with the control panels. Shaking his head at how easy it was to influence her, he turned toward the egg-shaped pods. "I just get in one of these?" he asked, slightly worried but not making it evident. "Ya, there to make sure you don't get lost in the molecular travel!" her voice crackled over a microphone over the glass box. He looked toward the egg-shaped pod once more. 'Well,' he thought as he opened the front of the pod, 'Guess I'm switching out one metal coffin for a slightly bigger one aren't I?' With one at the controls, and another entering a pod to soon be transported, neither noticed the slowly flashing red light above the door, nor the silent alarm. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: Ocean Crashdown //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: Ocean Crashdown With a small hiss, the pressure within the egg-shaped metal pod was released, and the heavy white steel door opened downward and clunked against the ground. “Careful master, any damage to the teleport pod’s sealants could end your short trip outside with disaster.” A feminine voice crackled over the overhead stereos. A man standing at five feet and eleven inches winced slightly as he stood before the now opened pod. Eldren didn’t grant a response to his escape-tool’s warning, choosing to stay silent as he stepped into the pod, and sat upon a tan padded chair. Lights and buttons winked around him within the pod, their soft lights glistening slightly across the three black metal buckles that hung limp at both sides of the chair. “Are you almost ready in there?” Eldren spoke, his enchanting voice echoing slightly in the mostly empty room. Silence prevailed in the room for a few short seconds, but those few seconds were all that it took for Eldren to feel a tinge of nervousness. While he may not understand teleportation, he did know that if so much as one thing went wrong, then the consequences could be dire. “Just about, I think I got the coordinates set. Close the pod and buckle up, it’s a bumpy ride.” his subordinate replied via the overhead stereos once more. Eldren nodded, slightly worried about her slight uncertainty, and reached a pale hand down. He pulled the pod door up, gently pulling and locking it into place. A hiss screamed in his ear, making him jump from the sudden unwelcome sound. With his heart pumping wildly in his jacketed chest, he leaned back and managed to figure out where which buckle went. He sighed as he leaned back against the tan padded chair. Tapping his fingers on his thigh, and watching as the cornucopia of blinking lights constantly flashed an unknown pattern toward him. His patience was wearing thin as he sat in the confined metallic space, memories of his old humanoid coffin, which now lay destroyed in his old cell, came to mind. Shaking his head, he leaned to the side and looked out the window toward the glass room where his subordinate stood before the controls. “How much longer,” he spoke, his annoyance evident in his voice. He waited a few seconds, but received no response. “Don’t ignore me yo-” Whatever he was about to say was quickly interrupted when the white metal door suddenly slid open, and five black armored soldiers quickly made their way into the room; three of them training their guns on Eldren’s pod, and the other two attempted to enter the glass room. “Do not move,” one of the black armored men spoke, his gun trained directly on Eldren’s surprised face beyond the viewing glass, “You have been caught attempting to use this teleportation room after hours. State your name and rank so that proper punishment can be made.” Silence once more reigned in the room as no one spoke; Eldren hoping they don’t identify him, and Alexandria too surprised to speak. The nearest soldier strode up to the pod and leaned forward into the viewing glass, watching as Eldren tried, and failed, to push himself further into his seat. “Sir, SCP INK has been identified sir.” the soldier said as he stood once more and aimed the barrel of his gun at the glass. “Understood, keep it inside the pod for now.” the now obvious leader of the squad spoke before turning to the girl inside the glass box, “Ma’am, we ask you peacefully step out of the control box. Your charges will be lessened for aiding the capture of SCP INK if you comply.” Eldren watched through the viewing glass of his pod, worried about what the girl may chose. While he is in here, the power of voice cut off from all of them, the girl stands alone in the glass room, a confused expression on her face. He hadn’t renewed his influence on her, figuring he’d be long gone by this point. His power over her was slowly fading with each passing second, each second bringing him closer to his recapture and torture. So, in this moment of panic, Eldren decided to do something he never thought he’d have to do to someone so low. He unclasped two of the top belts over his chest, and bent forward. Raising a fist, he began to slam against the door of the pod, drawing both the attention of the girl and the black armored soldiers. He looked at the confused girl, desperation now made obvious in his eyes, and pointed at the control panel. She looked at him for just a few short seconds, before nodding and slamming her hand down on the control panel. Sparks flew inside the room, bolts of energy in the form of electricity arched from below the pod as the once dark circle suddenly flared to life. “Open fire! Stop them!” the lead soldier shouted once he had gotten over the shock of the sudden sounds and lights. Bolts rained down upon both the pod and the girl. The glass shattered under the onslaught of lead and copper. The red-hot bullets ripped into the girl, tearing apart her insides as the left her body in a small, gorey explosion. She fell, silent to the end, staring at her master in the white pod. She had done her job, and this was the end for her. Eldren watched, surprisingly saddened by the death of his subordinate, but quickly forgot about her as the loud screeches of the molten lead impacted with the hardened steel and titanium shell of the pod. The egg-shaped pod was designed to withstand the deconstruction of atoms, it could take a few bullets, but he knew they would eventually blow through. Suddenly, all went silent, the clicks of the now emptied firearms taking up the mantel of sound from the explosions of bullets. A chorus of the simple word “Reloading” echoed slightly in the room, each soldier releasing their old clip and replacing it with a new one. It was for naught though, as the pod began to vibrate, and break down into atoms rapidly. However, this didn’t stop the leader of the squad. With practiced aim, he pulled a 9mm pistol from his hip, and fired three times into the glowing circle beneath the rapidly disappearing pod. An explosion rocked the room, and Eldren was thrown backward into his padded seat, the pod heating up rapidly as it still continued to break down with him in it. He looked out at the soldiers climbing to their feet, feeling the leader’s eyes locking with him. Then, Eldren saw no more as the last of his atoms disappeared, his path to the next teleporter ruined, and his atoms flowed seamlessly into the void. And he was scared. ______________________________________________________________________ Then, light burned forth into Eldren’s eyes; blinding him in his hot metal coffin. Blocking the light streaming forth from the viewing glass before him with his hand, he looked around the cabin of the egg-shaped pod. The once flashing lights and buttons no longer blinked, instead laid dormant near his head and hands. The viewing glass was still in once piece, and a bright burning sun forced it’s cruel light upon him. Confusion made itself known in his slowing mind, why is the sun shining directly into the window? Shouldn’t it be blocked from the top? It’s no where near big or dull enough to be sunset. Not only that, but where was the ground? Even from the pod’s upright position, he should be able to see the ground in front of him. All that he saw was the sun, baby blue, and the occasional puff of white… oh no. Suddenly, the feeling of falling took over his body, his innards rose as his head felt strangely lighter. ‘OK…’ Eldren thought, the bright sun shining directly into his eyes slowing his brain more and more, ‘First things first, get rid of the damned lights!’ With that, he pulled forth a piece of his arm, it immediately turning to the black gel-like substance from when his transformations, and slapped it against the window. He spread the substance over the window, effectively throwing the room into almost complete darkness. He sighed as he leaned back into the padded seat. ‘Don’t know how long until we hit ground,’ Eldren thought, his normal brain capacities coming back to him from the absence of the burning sun, ‘but if we do, I’d like to be buckled up for it.’ With that in mind, Eldren buckled the straps he had released when the SCP night guards had stormed into the teleport room. Good thing he did to, as the last strap clicked shut, his pod lost all momentum; throwing him up toward the ceiling of the pod, the last strap being the only thing stopping him. The floor of the pod rose a decent half a foot before stopping in a jagged pattern. Gripping the armrests on the apparently reliable tan padded chair, he let out a breath of relief when the distinct feeling of bobbing replaced the sudden shock of stopping. He had hit water, and the sealants that somehow survived the long fall and crash down into water held tight. If the humans could gain his respect in anyway, it would be from their craftsmanship, with his titanium human coffin, and his new egg-shaped coffin. In the darkness if the cabin, Eldren leaned back into his chair. He could survive several weeks longer than a normal human without food or water. Although, it was going to get uncomfortable if he doesn't wash up on shore soon. All he had to do now, was wait. ______________________________________________________________________ “Professor,” a young male voice echoed across the beach, “What exactly are we here for again?” “Weren’t you paying attention?” another, much older, male voice replied, annoyance and slight disappointment evident in the voice. Near the edge of crashing waves over a rocky beach, seventeen figures stood in a semi circle, forming around a single figure. Each of them were unique in some way. They all had fur covering their five to five and a half foot bodies, each of them an unusually bright color that would easily get them spotted in the wild. They stood on two hard hoofed legs, their arms ending in four digit hands; thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers each. A tail, different colored from their fur, some with two tone tails, sprouted from the bottom of their backs. Under some of their hair on the top of their head was a horn, some longer than others, that ended with a soft point and the extruding bone the same color as their unique fur. Only two had no horn, rather, wings sprouted from their backs, once more the feathers the same color of their unique fur. However, what made them especially unique from each other was the strange tattoo-like markings on either their left shoulder or right hand, depending on the gender. A definite chunk of the strange markings had something to do with water in some way. The younger male voice that had spoken came from light green furred bipedal creature, it’s tail a dirt brown, a small green horn sprouting from between short, forest green bangs, and a marking on his left shoulder depicting the bones of a strange fish. The other uniquely furred and marked creatures turned toward the green one that spoke before, watching with slightly mocking eyes as he bowed his head slightly. “S-sorry sir, the carriage ride here was long, and I forgot most of what we were supposed to do.” the shamed looking green furred male spoke, stuttering slightly from embarrassment. The light blue male sighed as he turned away from the green male, the marking on his shoulder visible to all who looked. Depicting white water crashing harshly over a rock, it sat proudly on his left shoulder as he ran his four digit hand through his dark blue short cropped hair. Turning back to the embarrassed green male, he sighed once more before speaking. “We came here,” the older blue male spoke slowly, as if speaking to a younger child, “since this is the prime month to calculate the possible tidal effects that may come this year. Just do as I say, and keep with the group. That shouldn’t be so hard to forget this time, right?” he finished with slight mocking in his voice and stance. “Yes sir…” the green one mumbled, further embarrassed by both the older male’s mocking, and the snickering from the other bipedal creatures around him. The group began to move forward across the rocky shore, writing on smooth paper with thick pencils. They recorded what the apparently leader, aptly named the “Professor”, answering questions asked by him. The embarrassed green furred male hung back toward the back of the group, avoid eye contact and speaking with the professor to try and avoid further embarrassment. Suddenly, he jumped when tannish yellow furred hand clamped down slightly on his right shoulder. Looking over and down the yellow furred arm toward the slightly elongated face, he relaxed when he say the sparkling green eyes look into his slightly saddened blue ones. “Hey Blossom,” he spoke with a slightly relieved voice, “Shouldn’t you be up ther-” “Don’t let him get to you Haze,” Blossom spoke, interrupting her friend’s sentence, “They always pick on the newbies. Just pay attention and ask a question here and there and he’ll forget about you, Ok?” Haze nodded, a small smile playing on his slightly elongated furred face. “Thanks, I needed that.” Blossom clapped twice on his shoulder before letting her arm drop to her side, “No problem, you're still new. They never give newbies a fair chance in the beginning anyway, take it from my experience.” A playful smirk spread across Haze’s face, “Oh ya? You gonna tell me about it then?” “Uh… no.” Blossom deadpanned, snickering slightly at the false upset look that replaced Haze’s expression. “Ahem,” the sound of someone clearing their throat a few feet from their playful banter sounded. They looked over and saw the professor staring at them, along with most of the other’s snickering. “Anything you’d like to share with the group, Miss Blossom, Mr. Haze?” the Professor spoke, mocking once more evident in his voice. Both went red in the face from the unexpected embarrassment, the blush somehow visible under their colored fur coats. “No sir,” Blossom spoke in a slightly softer tone, “I was just reminding Haze on how to calculate on how wind will affect a wave’s density.” The Professor smiled slightly at her words, “I see, well Mr. Haze you can answer my next question.” Haze gulped as he nodded, “Y-yes sir.” “Tell me,” the Professor said, “Based on our current findings, how do you think the tide this year will affect the local amphibious wildlife?” Haze winced as he looked down at his notes, his sloppy handwriting legible only to him. He had stopped paying attention when he started talking to Blossom. Gulping, he looked toward the shiny ocean before him, hearing the whispers of the group, but not able to make any meaning to the words spoken. “Well,” the Professor said, once more mocking poor Haze, “We’re waiting. If you don’t have an answer just say so, for someone who forgets as easily as you, it should be easy for you to conveniently forget to take simple notes.” “Uhh…” Haze said, not willing to take anymore embarrassment from his professor if he could help it today. His eyes scanned the shiny ocean, hoping for something, anything to pop out and give him the answer. Then, something caught his eye. Something white and shining bobbing up and down on the faint waves in the distance. “Professor,” Haze said slowly, his eyes still locked with the strange white thing in the distance, “What is that?” raising a four digit hand, he pointed toward the white object. The Professor laughed mockingly, his other students joining in, except for Blossom who just stood there, looking at the same object Haze had just pointed out. “Don’t try to change the subject Haze,” the Professor said as he strode his way over to his side, “Besides, it’s probably just… a…” Their Professor stood just behind Haze, looking out at the same object Haze had pointed out. By now it had come much closer, and some detail was able to be discerned from it. “What in Celestia’s name is that…” the Professor mumbled slightly, watching as the strange white object drifted closer and closer. From what he could tell, it was some sort of white sphere with a glossy black circle pointed slightly away from them. It looked to be only four feet in diameter across, but was five feet in diameter with a crushed bottom from it’s longest ends. Strangely enough, it reminded him of an egg. He nodded before turning back to his class and pointing to the two winged students. “Miss River and Miss Emder, could you please fly over and try to bring that object to shore for study.” The two females, River and Ember respectively, nodded before unfurling their wings from the back and taking off with a slight gust of wind. It only took a minute for them to return pushing the strange, floating white egg onto the rocky shore. They struggled for a few seconds to push it across the rocks before a few of the horned students pointed their hands toward the object, their horns and hands glowing brightly with the same color as their fur. The egg glowed a multi color hue before being lifted up from the rocky ground. Moving and shifting their glowing hands in relative synchronization, they worked together to bring it closer to the group. Once there, they released the egg, allowing it drop roughly on the rocky ground, and their colored glow on their hands and horns dissipated, some of them painting while the others just looked slightly red in the face. “That was way harder than it should've been,” was the general whisper amongst those that helped lift the egg onto shore. Seemingly ignoring them, the Professor and Haze walked up to the egg, scrutinizing every detail. Suddenly, the Professor’s hazel eyes locked onto a strange symbol on the side of the egg near the inlaid black circle. “Well well well, what do we have here…?” he mumbled as he crouched, leaning in to look at the symbol. A black circle with three black arrows pointed toward its center. ______________________________________________________________________ A sudden jolt woke Eldren from his nap, not nearly as bad as when he had fallen into the water, but still noticeable. He was about to reach up and pull away the black gel from the window blocking out light to see where he was, but stopped when he heard a multitude of muffled voices. He jumped slightly when he heard another voice, very close to his head, speak in slightly muffled tones in a different language. “Rien rien rien, daele din vy quawn carni?” the voice said, it’s meaning completely lost to Eldren. ‘Where on this planet did that damned girl send me?’ Eldren thought as he leaned into the padded chair, content in the dark, but confused over the strange language. Since he had been born near the beginning of the human race, he was there for the creation of most of the languages, taking the time to learn each and every one of them. Yet this language, as far as he could tell, did not match up with any of his known languages. Perhaps someone came up with their own code language, and was using it to try and confuse him? No, that makes no sense. Code languages have at least some sort of similarity to their base language. This one didn’t even had an accent that he could place. Curiosity burned, the want to know ached within him. It actually hurt; sitting in his padded chair listening to the foreign words muffled outside. If he went outside, and it was some division of the SCP Foundation waiting for him, then what would he do? They’d try to capture him again, and they may not be so nice this time around. “Screw it,” Eldren said as he unbuckled from the chair, “I want to know, consequences be damned.” With that declaration, he pulled down on the emergency red lever attached to the door. A loud hissing blared in the hollow cabin as the room depressurized slightly, and several small explosions rang out along the seam of the door, apparently frightening whoever was out there if the sudden yells gave any clue. With a final obnoxiously loud Bang! the heavy white metal door to the egg-shaped pod flew off, skidding and sparking across rocky ground. Eldren counted down in his head to be sure of no sudden surprises, absently listening to the sound of waves crashing a short ways behind him, and the foreign whispers to his left. ‘Five, four, three, two, fuck it, one!’ With that, Eldren stepped quickly out from the now useless pod and onto the rocky shore. He stretched, cracking his back, and tried to seem uncaring of the sudden gasps and whispers emanating from his left. His hood was somehow still up, blocking him from the direct sunlight burning behind him, yearning to hinder him. Then, taking a deep breath, he looked to his left expecting to see more humans. Instead, all he received was a sudden surprise. ‘What… the fuck...’ was the single thought in Eldren’s head as his deep blue eyes scanned over the strange furred humanoid creatures before him. They were short, the tallest of them only standing at 5’6”, each them had a blinding color to their fur. Oddly enough, along with tails protruding from the bottom of their backs, they also had full heads of hair despite the fur; their hair and tail colors matching. It only got stranger though as Eldren’s eyes started to pick up some minor details they had missed in their once-over. Most of them had a horn poking out from their foreheads, the short protrusion of twisted bone possessing the same blinding color as their furs. However, two of them stood without horns, rather had wings that did not seem nearly big enough to lift their weight; the biggest one seemingly having a wingspan of twenty feet. “Where in the hell did that girl send me…” Eldren asked himself once more, his quantum brain trying to wrap itself around the impossibility that stood staring back at him. Another thing he had noticed, their eyes were huge. Not ungodly huge, but big enough to give a generic anime character a run for their money. Not only that, it seemed the express their emotions fluently from their large eyes, if the sudden influx of strong emotions was anything to go by. He had felt them early, them being small enough to ignore, but once he made eye contact with any of them, the influx of emotions was enough to burst through his reinforced dam. Blinking, Eldren looked away from them, cutting off eye contact and the annoyingly large influx of emotions from them. He had noticed one more thing about them. They were all naked. While they were indeed fur covered, it still bothered him seeing a young female humanoid to be standing there as naked as when they were born without reason. He blushed despite himself, actually thanking himself for the shadows of his grey hood to block the view from his face. The shifting of rocks and a slightly clacking sound reached his ears, drawing his attention. Looking back to his left, taking extra care to neither look at their large eyes or their private areas, he spotted one the males approaching. His fur was light blue, vaguely reminding Eldren of the day sky. He looked at the approaching creature’s feet, wondering what the clacking sound was, only to be once more surprised at another observation. They had hooves for feet, their legs expanding in a cone-like fashion from the knee down. Oddly enough, it bothered him the most to see a bipedal humanoid walking toward him with anything but feet. It just didn’t click right in his ancient mind. Eldren turned his eyes upward, preparing himself for the sudden influx of emotions when he locked eyes with the light blue creature. The creature hesitated when Eldren locked eyes with it, probably from the unexpected eye contact. An almost unhealthy amount of curiosity flowed from bright brown eyes, along with the expected fear and anxiety from meeting something not like you in all but shape. The creature raised at four fingered hand to it’s furred chest, speaking four foreign words before hitting himself in the chest at the last one. “Vin bauni ko Arid.” Catching onto what the creature, now named Arid, was trying to say, Eldren raised his five fingered right hand to his chest. “Eldren.”