Grow A Backbone

Link to article: Grow A Backbone.

:root{
--logo-image: url("http://timebox.wdfiles.com/local--files/sc-18-005-18-350/CI-Marcus-header.png");
--header-title: 'PRESENCE';
--header-subtitle: 'LONG LIVE THE INSURGENCY';
}


.time{
color:#901;
font-weight: 700;
}

(none)

```
time
```
```
time
```
```
time
```
```
time
```

[[module Rate]]

[[include :scp-wiki:theme:black-highlighter-theme]]
[[include :scp-wiki:theme:extra-black-highlighter-theme]]
[[include :scp-wiki:component:toggle-sidebar-bhl]]
[[include :scp-wiki:component:centered-header-bhl]]

[[module CSS]]
:root{
--logo-image: url("http://timebox.wdfiles.com/local--files/sc-18-005-18-350/CI-Marcus-header.png");
--header-title: 'PRESENCE';
--header-subtitle: 'LONG LIVE THE INSURGENCY';
}

.time{
color:#901;
font-weight: 700;
}

[[/module]]

[[span class="time"]] 10:21 [[/span]]

//A small crowd gathers in a auditorium.//

//The light dims. The whispers cease. A projector screen rolls down. A figure flicks on to the screen. Her face is visibly distorted.//

**Unknown:** Good evening everyone.

//She looks around the room for a moment.//

**Unknown:** You are wondering why I am not present physically. The official answer is that I have other more critical matters. But as you can ascertain, it is not the real reason.

//She pauses for a moment//

**Unknown:** The real answer is I do not trust any of you. Everyone in this room is willing to betray their comrades for the Insurgency.

**Unknown:** And I will prove it to you. The following seat numbers, please stand up. Seat B7, seat H3, and seat K5.

//The audience looks toward the specified seat numbers. The first one confidently stands up. The other two do so more hesitantly.//

**Unknown:** Thank you. Gentlemen in the back if you would be so kind.

//Three gunshots ring out. Three people with holes between their eyes. Three bodies collapse to the ground. Three corpses begin to rot.//

**Unknown:** The first was a double agent for our hated SCP Foundation. The second was a GOC agent. The third was involved with MC&D.

**Unknown:** Our rival is the Foundation, but we are omnipresent. We have agents in nearly every organization that operates behind the veil. Do not forget this.

//The crowd grows more anxious. The smell of the rotting flesh is pervasive.//

**Unknown:** This will make you a good operative. Do not trust anyone, and do not give any reason not to trust you. Have hobbies, be normal, but remember trust is a luxury. Use it wisely.

**Unknown:** Class dismissed.

----

[[span class="time"]] 10:47 [[/span]]

"There was no reason to put the fear of god into them Phoebe!"

"How else were they supposed to learn! The insurgency is not for the weak. They will have to grow a backbone, if not today then tomorrow."

"Says the girl with that black dragon toy on her desk."

Phoebe's face goes bright red. Her sister can not stop chuckling.

"OH MY GOD! Can you please drop it? It's toothless from 'How To Train Your Dragon' and I think it looks cute."

"You only say that because Keith gave you that didn't he?"

Phoebe stutters for a moment. He bought it for her on her third date after she started fangirling. It was the day she fell in love.

"That's besides the point! Get back to work Leia before I drag your ass out!"

Leia throws her hand up in mocking surrender. She laughs uncontrollably as she walks away. Phoebe looks toward her desk.

"Another day at work."
-----

[[span class="time"]] 12:32 [[/span]]

She needs sleep. A lot of food and sleep. Delta Command has been on her neck about her project. The Insurgency needs to gain a foothold in Backdoor SoHo if they want to expand their operations. She looks down toward the three files in front of her. Each problem needed to be resolved.

The first is marked "Facility 27-B". The name itself was a red herring. There was no Facility 27, in fact there was only Facility 27-B. It was a name when her project was in its early stages, one to throw the Foundation off if they ever discovered it. Facility 27-B was a hotel in Queens, NYC. On paper it was a legitimate Hilton Hotel but informally it served the Insurgency's own purposes. All employees were in fact Insurgents and a web of sub-basements ran underneath the hotel. She would use the Hotel to launder money, pretty easy to fake room reservations, from //less savory// business practices. Command wanted to increase profit but she worried that it would raise red flags.

The second was marked with a familiar blue ink. Backdoor SoHo was one of the few places where the UIU was competent. They had been disrupting operations for a while now. In most places just raiding them would be enough to get them to back off, but here they refused to die.

"Godless Bureaucrats" she mumbled under her breath.

The third contained a single piece of paper. It only said a few things, they didn't know much else. When it came to most sites, enough undercover work was enough to get in. They had infiltrated Site-19, Site-17, Site-43, and so on. But Site-28 always remained out of reach. The Foundation took extreme care to ensure its complete security. Each member was vigorously screened and they had already lost 8 insurgents before they called it quits. She wanted to pull her hair out and scream. It had eluded her for so long.

She wanted to bite and scream and kick and punch and then she saw toothless. She squeezed the little plushy close to her heart. It even smelled like him.

-----

[[span class="time"]] 1:33 [[/span]]

"You couldn't grab any better food for us Phebes?"

"Command wants me to cut down costs even more! What else am I supposed to do?"

"In your words, 'Grow a backbone'."

"Shut up."

She and Leia sat at the table closest to the second exit. They waited.

A woman with dark brown skin and a man with eyes too large for his head sat with them five minutes later.

"Maybe I should bring food from home next time."

Anita led their developments into the anomalous weaponry. A brilliant scientist, defected from the foundation after they cut her funding.

"OH bring me some since Phoebe is giving us plain slop. If I wanted prison food I would have turned myself in."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. Nichols was always a witty one. He joined the Insurgency outright by outsmarting them. He hacked into Insurgent records at age 17 and was recruited by age 19. No one would miss him, he said.

Leia smirked, "See I'm not the only one. There's gotta be a way for us to get decent food at least!"

"Yea, there's a ton of shit to steal. Come on Phoebe, please!"

Phoebe looked up. She had to admit that Nichols looked really pathetic when he begged. She sighed.

"So do any of you have a plan to tackle the UIU. Or, how about Site-28. Nothing like a good suicide run to cheer everyone up."

"Wow. Phoebe's dry humor. If only she was around us as she is around Keith. Where does he work again? I'd be more than happy to recruit him if it got us a better manager!"

The rest of the table exploded into laughter. Phoebe blushed a little. Before she could respond her phone rang.

"Speak of the Devil! Pick it up and put it on speaker! Mama needs her gossip."

She wanted to protest, but Leia was faster.

"Hello?" he said.

She sat there like an idiot. It was their fourth date all over again.

"Hellooo?"

Leia pushed her.

"Come on, talk!"

"Hey babe", god she could imagine how red her face must have been.

"Hey sweetie, just wanted to check in. Have you had lunch yet?"

"I'm having it now with some of my friends. Leia is here too."

"Hey Keith! Tell your wife to stop mistreating us! The food she gives us is a war crime."

//He chuckles//

"Not a surprise, Leia! You've tried her cooking so tell me why you would ever trust her."

Phoebe felt like she was going to faint. It took all of her strength to open her mouth.

"So why'd you call me honey?"

"Oh I left some food for you in your bag! It's not much but it's that avocado sandwich you like. Leia! Make sure she eats."

"Only if I get some of that food too."

"Maybe next time, okay I gotta go. Love you. "

It took all her strength not to combust.

"Love you too."

It ended. 5 seconds in silence. 10 seconds in silence. Then Nichols broke into the most obnoxious laughs she ever heard.

It took 3 seconds before Anita and Leia did the same. It was times like these she wished that she could sink into the floor.

"Aw, Phoebe's got a crush on her husband."

She was going to kill him. Or make love to him. Whichever came first.

Grow A Backbone

Module Styles

Inline Styles

Includes

CSS Classes

Page Source