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[[div class="blockquote"]] [[[Friday morning |Morning]]] [[[Friday afternoon |Afternoon]]] [[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/friday-night/offset/0|19:31, Cafeteria]]] [[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/friday-night/offset/1|22:27, Staff Lodging]]] [[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/friday-night/offset/2|22:45, Therapy Pool]]] [[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/friday-night/offset/3|23:35, Site-17 Hallways]]] [[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/friday-night/offset/4|Ten Years Ago, Site-17 Community Room 3]]] [[/div]] "Alright, I know you don't like spicy food, but hear me out on this one," Beatrix said, squeezing a conservative yet still somewhat significant dollop of sriracha sauce into the bowl. Iris, for her part, tried not to let her distaste for the idea show on her face. She always liked giving people the benefit of the doubt, even when it annoyed Adrian. Instead, she feigned a smile at Beatrix. Beatrix hoped her smile was more convincing. Once she was done mixing it in a little bit, she sat back down across from Iris. "Okay, give it a shot. I only mixed it into a small part, so worst-case scenario, I'll just have that part, yeah?" Iris bravely spooned a moderate amount into her mouth, letting the (honestly not that impressive) amount of sauce coat her tongue. She looked like she didn't... wait, no, maybe... okay, no she hated it. Wait. She was thinking about it. "That's pretty good!" Iris smiled ear-to-ear, sounding pleasantly surprised. Beatrix couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, in spite of herself. "Well, you know how to keep me in suspense." "Oh, sorry," Iris said as she grabbed the bottle and started adding it to the bowl, perfectly spacing her drops despite the fact she was going to mix it anyways. "Have you shown Adrian? I think he'd like it." The knot in Beatrix's stomach returned, but Iris was too focused on her food to notice the way she grimaced. "Sure did." "When's he getting back, anyways?" Beatrix gritted her teeth. He was at 19, giving IDs to the members of his squad. Half of them were killed by a bladed weapon, even though Able was only sent in to take care of a few cryptids. Those didn't have swords. He did. And Adrian got up every single day to go //work// with that- "...Beats?" "Hm?" Beatrice shook her head once. "Oh, uh. Yeah." "Do you know when Adrian's coming back?" Iris asked again. Was that the reason she couldn't sleep? "Um. Not tonight, no. Maybe tomorrow." "...He's okay, though, right?" Iris asked, sounding unsure of herself. "Yes." Beatrix responded quickly and firmly. "He's alright. He just called me to tell me he was fine." He also told her who had died. He didn't even sound sad, just tired. He was always tired now. "That's good." Iris focused herself back on her bowl of mac and cheese with the same intensity she afforded to her photographs. With a deep, restrained sigh, Beatrix thought about what she wanted to say. She had to say //something.// Iris had only been with the Foundation for so long now, Omega-7 was all she knew. Able's team has such a high... turnover rate that new recruits were beginning to dry up. Iris might not have someone to make her food at midnight in a year. She might not have it tomorrow. She was a good kid, smart and adaptable, but she wouldn't be ready for that. "Hey, Iris? Can we talk a little bit?" Beatrix ventured. Iris clocked her tone and winced. "Yeah, okay," she agreed nevertheless. She really thought of Beatrix as a friend. It killed Beatrix every time. "I just..." Something caught in Beatrix's throat. "I //know// it can be a little rough here sometimes. And I'm so //proud// of you for handling it as well as you are. I know Adrian is too." She stopped short of saying Iris' parents would be proud. Her superiors had recommended she mention Foundation personnel in place of them, and despite her reservations she did as she was told. "Um. Thanks." Iris seemed like she enjoyed the compliment - she usually did - but she was visibly worried. She was bad at hiding her emotions. "I just think it would be good for me to set expectations," Beatrice forced out. "It's important you hear this from me." Iris merely nodded in response, still eating the macaroni from her bowl. "Well, the Foundation has been doing..." Beatrice looked at the four walls around her. "//...This// for a while now. They've got a handle on things by now." "Oh, yeah," Iris replied. "I don't even know half the stuff that goes on in here, I just hope that it works, heh..." Beatrix cleared her throat. "My point is that they know what works. They don't like changing things up." That was lie. They liked doing stupid shit when someone volunteered to fall on the knife for when shit hit the fan. But once it did, they'd wipe their hands of it and things would go back. Iris wasn't old enough to understand Foundation politics, and frankly, Beatrix wondered if she was sometimes. "I... I see." Iris left her spoon sitting in her bowl and looked back at Beatrix. She wasn't moving much anymore. "I just think you should know that this, Omega-7, isn't going to last." Beatrix flashed a forced smile, hoping Iris wouldn't be able to tell. She would. She was a smart kid. Iris moved her mouth around as though grasping for words. "Wh-Why? I didn't do anything? I-I mean, I did everything I was supposed to." //Because the rate of attrition is unsustainable. Because we keep having to suppress reports of friendly fire from the one freak we can't boot off the team. Because all the money and all the lives haven't done anything they couldn't have somewhere else.// "It's not you. The Foundation just needs to treat all the anomalies like a collective. It's easier that way." //Needs.// Beatrix lied straight through her teeth. "I..." Iris' eyes darted across the table as though searching for something more to say. "I don't understand why they can't just... I mean, what can I even do? I'm not like Able. We're //nothing// alike." Her voice sounded almost desperate. "I'm sorry." Beatrix was getting worried. She didn't want to stir dissent in an anomaly, that would make things worse for everyone. God, when had she started thinking like those shithead 'psychologists?' "At least you're safe here. Things could be a lot more dangerous with the Coalition." Iris had heard of other Groups of Interest in passing, but not enough to have a discussion about them, which is what Beatrix was banking on. She stared down at the table for a moment before finding something else to say and looking back up to Beatrix. "Even if this all goes away, I'll still be able to see you, right? You and Adrian?" A hand constricted around Beatrix's heart. She gritted her teeth together. She heard Adrian's descriptions of his squad's remains from earlier in her ears again and nodded her head. "Absolutely. I'll make sure of it." She didn't admit it to herself, but she had lied to Iris again. [[div class="footer-wikiwalk-nav"]] [[=]] << [[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/friday-night/offset/3|23:35, Site-17 Hallways]]] | [[[devils advocate hub|Devil's Advocate Hub]]] | [[/=]] [[/div]]