One great thing about Santa Cruz: The buses ran everywhere. Agent Maria Conchita Adonses got off bus and walked the final half-mile to the Institute of Marine Sciences. The warm sea air could only do her good.
When she finally arrived at the site, she checked her watch to ensure that she had arrived early. The windable watch showed she was five minutes early. A grinning large man in standard forest camos was walking towards her.
She saw a black van come into view, stopped, and armed men spilled out. And then the siren sounded.
The large man lost
his grin. “At least your first day will be memorable.”
She
pulled out her automatic pistol. “I hate memorable.”
He
had already pulled his own pistol. “Understood.” He appraised the
situation. “Agent Adonses, correct?” He pulled her to cover
behind a sedan.
“Thanks, and yeah. Sergeant Steel, I presume?” She peeked out at the invaders.
“Yep.” He peeked out at the invaders. “Look, my men will have this contained in a few minutes. I need you inside looking for Asset Oswald.” He looked heavenwards. “Every friggin' July 8th.”
“Asset Oswald?”
“Yep. Tell him he needs to get to the Genny-6 ASAP.” Sergeant Steel peeked again at the invaders. “We were expecting these jerks today, and that's their likely target. Oh, and mention the date.” He cocked his pistol. “Now GO!”
She kept low, but ran as fast as she could to the one open door she saw. As she entered she saw some soldiers engaging the invaders. She closed and secured the door before heading into the site. She saw a T-intersection and went right; she had no idea where to go, but she was confident she would figure it out.
She ran past all sorts personnel preparing for the worst. She would ask someone about “Asset Oswald” and was pointed in the direction of the containment section. She noted the increase in concrete and bulkhead doors; she had entered the containment section. A few questions later and she was directed to a cell. She peeked in and saw a teenager in his boxers listening to his headphones.
She knocked loudly on the door. The kid looked at her surprised. He removed his headset. “Can I help you?”
She lowered her pistol. “I'm looking for 'Asset Oswald'. That you?”
The kid smiled. “Definitely. How can I help you?”
She cocked her head. She was hoping for someone older. “Sargent Steel wants you at Genny-6 ASAP. Also, something about mentioning it's 'July 8th'.”
The kid removed his headset and grabbed a wetsuit. “The same thing every year.” He put on the suit. “Okay, but you're going to need to watch my back, okay?”
She checked her pistol. “Got it."
He slipped into a pair of deck shoes and grabbed a pair of rubber glasses. “Cool.” He ran past her. “Let's go.”
She followed and the two ran past more panicked personnel. He led her through a maze of corridors deeper into the containment section. Eventually they were at a small electrical generator. “Agent, this is Genny-6.” He kneeled next to the generator and inspected it. “Okay, she was disconnected before the attack. Her charge has also been used up.” He looked up at the agent. “You have a taser, right?”
Her eyebrow cocked. “Of course. But you don't charge a generator that way.” She holstered her weapon before reaching into her purse.
He quickly reconnected the generator. “Who says you're charging the generator?” He smiled at her. “You're charging me.”
She paused while grabbing her taser from her purse. “Wait...what?”
“You heard me.” He removed his glasses. “You're charging me. Now hurry. We only a minute or so left before the cages open!”
She did the math and determined that a dozen cages of individuals with weird abilities being freed would be a bad idea. She pulled out the taser. “Are you sure?”
“This is the---” A shot rang out and the taser flew out of her hand. Oswald ducked behind the generator.
“We knew someone would grab Oswald.” There were steps coming towards them. “Now I guess I get to retire that particular asset.
She turned to see a thin man heading towards her, taking aim at her. She heard Oswald scrambling in the direction of the lost taser.
“Sorry, agent, but you are collateral damage.” He fired at her.
He missed as she crouched, pulling out her own weapon. She could feel the passage of the bullet. She just fired. The man went down.
“Oh yeah!” She heard the snickety-snack of a taser going off. “That's the stuff!”
She looked at Oswald as he ran to the generator. “You need a more powerful taser, for future reference.” He placed his hands on the generator. In moments it was charged up. He slumped to the ground but his head popped up. “And yet another July 8th ruined.” He put his glasses back on.
She looked at the dead man before holstering her weapon. She retrieved her taser. “So what's up with the date?”
Oswald stood up. “SCP-5982.” He shrugged his shoulders as if that explained it all.
She glared at him. “SCP-5982?"
He walked away from her. “Once a year, there's a weird flux in the area that makes things more possible, especially bad things. Specifically, those actions that involve some sort of agency. Like invading a Foundation site.” He motioned for her to follow. “So every year they stage an invasion.” He paused. “You have no idea how lucky we were.” He continued walking.
She followed him. “Great. And this is just my first day.”
SITE 142 (Secured/Humanoid): Disguised as part of the Institute of Marine Sciences, Site 142 is a secure facility that tends to deal in a lot of weirdness thanks to the local scene. While they tend to deal in Safe- and Euclid-level storage problems, they also need to deal with a number of location-based anomalies. They also keep a number of humanoid anomalies, usually a dozen or so at a time. While the site keeps some of the more interesting humanoid anomalies, they are also assigned to find a way to help humanoid anomalies fit back into society when possible, and have incorporated some anomalies into site defense.
STF Delta-64 (Coconut Snails): Assigned to Site 142, the Coconut Snails are a clean-up squad at the disposal of the site commander. They tend to blow things off as guerilla video, and usually have at least one member with some sort of filming equipment, even if it's just a smart phone. They work with agents assigned to the site in order to rescue anomalies, but work with local agencies to deal with more interesting anomalies.
SCP 5698: Oswald K
Class: Safe (explained)
Description: A blond, athletic teenage boy of approximately sixteen years of age. He wears prescription rubber frames for his astigmatism and some sort of containment gear, such as a rain poncho or a wet suit.
History: SCP-5698 is the result of genetic engineering carried on by the Nazis during WWII to create a soldier capable of traveling underwater for long periods of time; the scientists used an anomalous item capable of combining the DNA of different creatures, and so combined a human and an electric eel (Electrophorus electricus). The subject acquired partial gills and the ability to create and project an electrical charge (exact parameters unknown). However, those abilities bred true in his descendants; SCP-5698 is the direct grandchild of that original solider.
SCP-5698 was rescued from a Marshall, Carter, and Dark, Ltd., auction where his abilities were seen in terms of their combat utility; the highest bidders ran an anomaly gladiatorial rings. The subject was remanded to Foundation custody for study, and was determined to be “explained” due to the specific origin of its anomaly. It should be noted that the subject did make the lists of various organizations, and so it was determined that the subject should remain in the custody of The Foundation both for his own safety and that of others.
Containment: SCP-5698 is required to wear an insulated wet suit whenever he is outside of his cell; this is for the safety of others more than that of the subject's. This also means that his shoes are insulated, and he generally wears Latex gloves. Optionally, he may wear rain gear. It should be noted that exposure to water does not short him out, s would be expected; the containment gear is more to safeguard against accidental contact during use of his abilities.
It should be noted that he has been remanded to Foundation custody due to his anomaly, and that the custody is effectively permanent.
Effect: SCP-5698 has organic capacitors; he can absorb electricity from the surrounding area and then project it at varying strengths. He can carry a charge of around 1500 watt-hours, or enough to power several major appliances at once. He can project this electricity to a range of approximately 10 meters, and can use as little as a single watt to his maximum load. This has allowed him such feats as recharging handheld devices (with concentration) to approximating a taser.
As a secondary effect this makes him extremely difficult to effect with electricity, as tasers actually power him and are absorbed without harm. He is constantly drawing electricity, even from static electricity, and even his body produces a slight charge; without an outside source he could attain maximum capacity in about a month.
He is also able to swim for extended periods underwater; while not truly amphibious, he is able to remain underwater up to half an hour of average activity before needing to surface.
No comments:
Post a Comment