Link to article: fragment:scp-7547-5.
:scp-wiki:theme:penumbra
[[include :scp-wiki:theme:penumbra]] **Adam:** //(Violent coughing.)// **Unknown Voice:** Finally waking up. **Adam:** What //(coughing)// where the hell am I? **Unknown Voice:** You’re at the end. **Adam:** End of what? **Unknown Voice:** The case. The ritual. The world. You’ve reached the turning point. **Adam:** And which direction is //that// gonna lead, huh? **Unknown Voice:** That all depends on you. //(Silence.)// **Unknown Voice:** You’re untethered, now. All the fingers have been plucked from the pie. **Adam:** What about you? Don’t pretend like you haven’t been trying to lead me around like everyone else in this. **Unknown Voice:** Our objective was for you to have the freedom of choice, in the end. Because no matter what your mind conjures, our influence will be felt upon every surface of your wildest dreams. **Adam:** …Who are you? **Unknown Voice:** We are Phantasos Ltd., a subsidiary of the [[[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/oneiroi|Oneiroi Collective]]]. **Adam:** Why does the OC need a subsidiary to do their work? **Unknown Voice:** Same reason a crocodile needs a bird to clean its teeth: a different perspective. //(Silence.)// **Adam:** So I still don’t actually have any choice in the matter. I never had any free will in the first place. **Unknown Voice:** //We are// free will. Whatever you do is still your decision, we just facilitate it. **Adam:** Right. //(Splashing of footfalls in shallow water.)// **Adam:** What am I looking for, here? **Unknown Voice:** A light. You’ll know it when you see it. //(Splashing.)// **Adam:** If you were sending MC&D dreams, I’m guessing you also gave one to that artist and let him know I was coming. **Unknown Voice:** Correct. //(Splashing, then silence.)// **Adam:** I guess I found it. The... trail made of light? I don't think that's a good enough descriptor but I'm not sure how else-- **Unknown Voice:** That is it. You are correct. //(Silence.)// **Unknown Voice:** Adam? //(Splashing resumes.)// **Adam:** So what happens to me, after all this? **Unknown Voice:** Whatever you want. **Adam:** //(Muttering)// Sure. //(Splashing, and the quiet sound of ocean waves.)// **Adam:** When the light gets darker, does that mean I'm getting closer? **Unknown Voice:** ...What? **Adam:** I mean like, when the //color// of the light gets-- **Unknown Voice:** That's not supposed to happen. //(The sound of churning waves grows louder.)// **Adam:** What... do you mean by that? **Unknown Voice:** It's supposed to be untouched. Untainted by the wills of others. Adam, you need to tell us, what color is the light? **Adam:** Red. //(The sound of waves crashing upon the walls.)// **Unknown Voice:** Adam, you need to leave. He's here, Adam. **Adam:** Who is? //(A lacerated whale call, billowing out from the dark.)// **Adam:** ...No. Please no. **Unknown Voice:** Adam, you have to leave. Adam, you need to go NOW. //(He turns and bolts in the opposite direction, fighting against the current. The tide bites at him, hundreds of hands tugging at his clothes before sliding right off and starting again. His feet slow to a crawl, the hydrological gravity forcing his bones to shake in resistance. Adam takes one look back, and a monstrous black wave swallows him whole.)// //(The water muffles their voices; the caller's plea to escape and the man's cry of denial fall on waterlogged ears. As Adam flails within the ruddy expanse, the terrible call of a welcoming lover causes him to freeze, before urging him to swim upwards with a drive powered by violent fear. The light refracts through the water, blending everything around him into a homogenous void. The expectation of breaking the surface comes when he least expects it.)// //(Adam drags himself onto muddy land. The storm above rages as the typhoon encroaches upon the island like an angry conqueror. Adam coughs and hacks as water retreats from your lungs. You dig into your soaked cargo shorts for your walkie-talkie. It screams to life as your partner calls through it, “Adam! You need to listen, Adam! You need to dig into the ground, Adam. He will have trouble reaching you under the weight of unborn matter, Adam.”)// //”I lost the chopper in the storm,” you yell back, trying and failing to raise your voice above the harrowing rain. Then, something louder than the rain cries out from the direction you just came. A slick sense of dread crawls on your skin as you retreat further into the island.// //You twist your body through the dense maze of trees, before bumping your head on a different piece of wood altogether: a cabin. The door only opens a sliver out before hitting one of the trees. You squeeze past the crack and into the interior, finding a map you don’t recognize sprawled across your desk. One of the corners is weighed down with an uneaten bowl of soup.// //There’s a pounding at the door on the far wall, which opens up to one of your cabinboys, soaking wet from the rain. “Captain! We need you, captain. It’s destroying the ship!”// //His words set your hairs on end. You organized this voyage, you paid good money to hunt this thing, and yet the very thought of seeing the beast with your own two eyes frightens you so. This anxious feeling has been building ever since you began this journey. You didn’t know why, couldn’t know.// //Screams from the starboard side, your men pulled into the churning sea as you catch a glimpse of the terrible leviathan slamming its fin into the ship. A shrill squawking in your ear breaks you from your trance, “Adam!” You glare at your parrot, perched on your shoulder, “You need to hide, Adam! Before the world grows too narrow, Adam!” The bird holds its beak open, the audio speaker inside now blatantly visible. The ride shuts down and all the lights in the amusement park turn off. You step off the attraction, the pre-recorded roaring of waves replaced by the equally deafening ringing silence. Everyone left early, you think to yourself. Even your boss is gone. Maybe it’s a national holiday? In any case, you've got no other obligations at the moment, so you have a nice weekend in front of you.// //The sound of a shoe squeaking echoes through the indoor theme park. It isn't yours. You look to your left, but all you can make out is black shapes; one of them moves. You make an attempt to swallow your fear, if for a moment. They can’t see me either, you rationalize, so I probably look just as freaky. “Hey,” you say, “it’s me, Adam.” No response. “I… I can’t see who you are,” you chuckle, for your own sake.// //You can make out the silhouette of the stranger, contrasted with the inanimate objects, as they move closer. Each step is slow and methodical. “Bro, come on, I know it’s October but, come on,” you inch away. They remain silent, and you notice how much taller they are than you. Soon you make out the shape of their head, the shape of their body, the look on his…// //You run like hell. Charging through a pair of double doors like a bull during a thunderstorm, you sprint down hall after hall. In your adrenaline rushed mind, you fail to recall the layout of the building, the facility feeling more like a cold maze. You fight the urge to look back, out of fear for what you might see. The vents shake around you as the ventilation system warbles from its moving pains, “Ahdm! Ahdmm! Ahdmmm!”// //Turning left to right, running down hallway after alleyway after hallway. Your arms grow heavy and your legs weak, forcing you to hunch over. The brickwork closes around you, your little paws start to sore from the constant scurrying. You can feel the big thing getting closer. The sensation of water under your paws causes you to cringe, puddles dotting your path. The ground grows wet as the pools of water become more prevalent, the splashing punctuating your fleeing as you hop as fast as your biological limits permit. The water grows deeper and you dive in, kicking and rowing while you hope that the predator can’t transition to this environment. The ripples from the large splash behind you inform otherwise. You swim, swim, as your appendages shrivel away and you kick your new tail as hard as your body allows. Darkness flanks your sides, traveling past you, forward, forward, as you watch the light ahead of you shrink to a horizontal slit.// [[=]] Adam and Evan, made in heaven. [[/=]] [[=]] [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7547/offset/6 ↓] [[/=]]