Link to article: Blistering Budget.
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[[include :scp-wiki:theme:bedrock]] [[>]] [[module Rate]] [[/>]] //What a shithole,// Jordan thought as she approached the run-down site. The door had an overgrowth of vines and a coat of rust decorating it. The walls fared no better, matching this unsightly display. //I always get the shit ones.// She approached the doors and forced them open, a feat which required a little more strength than Jordan wanted." "Hello Special Containme-." "Close the door! You will let out the cold air!" shouted a man behind the front desk in the lobby. He stood and ran. As he did, Jordan heard the sound of flip-flops smacking against the ground. The man was dressed in beach shorts and a light shirt, an outfit much more befitting of a pool or beach. "Do you know how expensive AC is? Do you not see the fans?" He pointed at the many white fans spread around the room, aiming toward the front desk. "Sorry?" Jordan said as the man sat back down at the desk. "Now, my name is Grant. What brings you to this dump of a site?" He said, gesturing to Jordan. "I am he—. What are you wearing? Why are you not wearing the Foundation-regulated outfit." "Well, that is because it is 36 degrees here, and I refuse to wear that ass-backward lab coat in heat like this." He snapped. "Okay. Well, Grant, I am here on behalf of the financial department. They sent me to check out the request for an increase in funds." "Thank god! Finally, maybe it won't be so fucking hot in here anymore." Grant stood up and walked to the door a few steps from the desk. "Bronce should be in there." He said, knocking on the door. Jordan walked into the office, shocked at its size—no larger than a janitor's closet. At the edge of the room, a small desk rested next to multiple fans plowing towards it. A middle-aged man with sweat pouring down his face sat with his elbow on the desk. "Oh. You must be here for the budget requests. Thank you for coming!" Bronce said, standing to meet Jordan. "I would think that as a site director, you would follow the clothing regulations," Jordan said, examining the director's slides. Bronce looked down at his outfit. Looked back at Jordan and shrugged. "Gave in a while ago. It is just too damn hot in here. And speaking of that, let's get straight to the point. You need to approve the request." "Slow down there. You are requesting a lot here. About a fifty percent increase in staff, a large request for gasoline, and about quadruple annual budget." Bronce nodded. "Sorry, we are in dire straits here. This site has been slowly losing funding for a while now. But the upper folks decided we were doing such a good job containing our anomaly that we no longer needed much funding. That or 05-4 lost my email address." Bronce said, walking out of the office and gesturing for Jordan to follow. "Why would a run-down shit hole like this need to be in contact with an overseer. No offense." Jordan said, following Bronce to two large vault doors. "Offense kind of taken." He replied, leaning down to the small number pad. Jordan could not shake the feeling of something trying to speak to her. Whispers echoed on the fans' breaths, and chatter followed their footsteps. //This heat is making it hard to think.// "This place used to run efficiently. It //used// to be a normal temperature here. But apparently, not all sites get full AC funding." The doors slowly cracked open. The second Jordan stepped forward, a wall of damp heat slammed into her, forcing her to take a few steps back. "Close the goddamn door, Bronce!" Grant yelled from the front office. Bronce waved back and took a step forward with Jordan. Tapping a button, the doors slowly dragged closed. //It is so hot in here.// Jordan thought as she looked around the tiny room. "Is this an elevator? And why is it so Damn hot in here?" She asked. "Yes, it's not the best elevator ever, but it works. And to answer your other question, we have to burn our anomaly." //Burn? What the fuck is he talking about?// Jordan wondered as she looked at the broken-down elevator. "The temperature used to be pretty regulated with the AC, and with the furnace it wasn't much effort to deal with our anomaly.” "Furnace?” "Oh, yeah, well, we don't have that anymore. It used up //too much// energy," Bronce said begrudgingly. "We then moved to automatic flamethrowers, but that was too much too. So now we just have a Lucas." "What?" Jordan said, looking at Bronce as the doors opened. They entered a small control room. Jordan could feel the temperature with every movement she made. In front of the room were enormous windows with rusty metal coverings. Jordan watched as Bronce approached a small cardboard box and pulled out two goggles. He reached his hand out to give her a pair. "You are going to want to put this on. The fire gets bright down here." Bronce said, strapping the goggles to his head. "What are you guys keeping down here?" Jordan asked, putting on her pair. "Just a normal anomaly." Bronce pushed a few buttons on the dashboard, and with a large metallic sound, the protective covers slowly raised off the glass. Jordan felt the air ripped out of her lungs when her eyes saw what was in the room below. A large, almost human skull was constrained to the wall. Four empty eye sockets and two large gapping jaws loomed over the room. "Holy Shit! What is that!?" "That is our financial problem," Bronce responded. "What?!" "We don't //really// know what it is, or they just won't tell us. But we know it was thought to be a meteor a decade ago, and then it crashed in Texas. And now it is our problem." Bronce said half-heartedly, moving towards a speaker. Jordan stepped forward and looked down in the chamber to see a lawn chair with a shirtless man sitting in it. He was wearing bright blue beach shorts and what looked like Crocs. Sitting on the floor was a sizeable hand-held flamethrower. The sound of crackling came from the speakers, and Bronce played with it. "Lucas, someone from the financial department is here today. So say hello," boomed the speaker. Lucas turned from the chair and stood up, waving towards the window. As he did, Jordan realized that parts of the skull had started to show signs of regeneration. An eye started forming from nothing in one of the eye sockets. A powerful screech ran out through the room as it fully formed into an eye. The sound slammed into her head, making it hard for Jordan to form any thoughts. //LET ME OUT// In a panic, Lucas turned around, picked up the flamethrower, and turned the flames onto the eye, burning it away. Jordan heard screams of pain for a few more seconds before they stopped. Jordan's brain felt numb, as if it had been slammed around and beaten for the duration of the screams. "Was- Was that in my head?" Jordan gasped out. "Yes. It speaks through our minds. If someone isn't paying attention to it." Bronce said over the intercom, glaring at Lucas. "Fire seems to do the job well. It burned up coming into our atmosphere, which is good news. God knows what happens if this thing fully regenerates." "You are telling me we have a guy in a fucking beach chair burning an eldrich god every day!?" "Pretty much. Now, about that budget increase." @@ @@ @@ @@ [[=]] **SPECIALITY CONTAINMENT SITE BUDGET INCREASE REQUEST** [[size 150%]]##green|APPROVED##[[/size]] [[/=]] @@ @@ [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box |author=Bhomas Tourget]] [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box-end]]