You Want to Go Home? - SCP Foundation

< < < < < Protocol Recolo

“Iris…” she began. Iris’s eyes widened — apart from her psychiatrist and the other anomalies no one ever called her by her name, always SCP-105 or 105. “I was wondering if you would like to go back to Arizona.”

Suddenly the picture puzzle didn’t seem so important.

Iris couldn’t even respond. Over nine years of containment had taught Iris that if a Foundation staff asked if you wanted something, it came with a caveat — do a dangerous test and you’ll get a little treat, like a new book or some fake decorative plants to put in your cell. Of course the tests weren’t optional, but it was the mindset that mattered.

The woman looked at Iris. She knew what was going on in her mind and she couldn’t blame her at all. The carrot and stick had been going on since the first humanoid was contained. But, this was genuine. “Iris? This is a legitimate question. And you can give a legitimate answer.”

“…What do you think?” The staff never did appreciate sarcasm, but if one was going to ask a question like that, they deserved it.

“I’ll take that as a yes then.” The woman gave her an amused look. “There’s been a new change in protocol. If you’ll follow me, I can explain it.”

The woman walked out the door. After a moment of hesitation, Iris decided there was nothing left to lose and followed her.

As they walked down the hall, Iris heard the foot traffic behind her. She turned around and saw other people in bright orange uniforms and slippers following researchers in similar attire, with four security staff at the end. All of them had the same look of apprehension as Iris. Aside from the sound of footsteps, nobody made any noise. They continued until they reached a pair of doors identical to the ones that led to the cafeteria. The woman who had spoken to Iris pushed them open to reveal a large auditorium. There was a large stage to the left that had a giant projector screen hanging over it, along with rows of cushioned chairs facing it. Whatever was going on, it had to be grand for all of the Site-17 residents to be there. Once everyone made it in, the doors closed behind them.

The researchers walked to the right to the back of the auditorium to a small red door. Must be the emergency exit, or they just don’t want to be in this room any more than they need to, Iris thought. Made sense, who would want to be with a bunch of prisoners in the same room. Well, the woman who spoke to Iris did at least, as she walked onto the stage. Iris decided to take a seat near the exit. It would probably lock if things in the room got too hectic, but it still felt good to be near an exit. Cain took the seat next to her and gave her a soft smile. He had been there far longer than any of the other anomalies and treated all of them with respect. The closest thing one had to an older brother in Site-17. Rainer took a seat in the front middle row. He was always eager to please the staff. Him and Daniel were like that. Leora and Stacey took seats towards the middle. A man with a prosthetic hand sat towards the back middle. The fish-man sat near the left middle of the room. The walking bug armor sat in the back right row. A man in a suit with combed brown hair sat in towards the right middle. A tall woman with short braided hair sat near Leora and Stacey. After a few more seconds, most of the seats were filled. Two security members walked towards opposite sides of the stage and two walked towards the back corners. This seems like a lax amount of security officers, Iris thought. Whatever was going on must’ve not been that dangerous.

“Hello everyone,” the woman said in an even voice. Even if they had all been talking, every single anomaly would have immediately gone silent — something about the voice told them that things’ll be alright. “My name is Sophia Light. I’m sure you’ve all been wondering what’s with the gathering, given that this is the first time you guys have been able to meet in a few months.” The crowd glanced at each other, they never did know what caused the end of their socialization privileges.

The screen turned on. On it was the Foundation’s symbol. “There has been a recent change in leadership within the Foundation and they have done some reviewing on the containment of sapient beings.” The crowd raised their collective eyebrows at that. Beings. A certainly more endearing term than anomaly. The screen changed to an image of a man in plainclothes walking away from a super-max prison. “We have deemed it unethical for sapient beings to be isolated from their families and the world. So, I present to you the Foundation’s ‘Rehabilitation Program.’ We would like to go through a process of psychiatric testing to determine if you are mentally fit to be released into the civilian world.”

Silence. Pure silence.

A small hand raised. It was Stacey. Sophia nodded at her and the crowd glanced in her direction. “Y-You mean all of u-us are f-free to g-go? J-Just like t-that?”

Sophia sighed. The screen changed to an image of a giant curtain covering Earth. “Unfortunately, not all of you. We want to keep the world unaware of the paranormal. So… some of you still aren’t allowed to leave… because either your abilities or appearance are a dead giveaway.”

A few members of the crowd looked down, with a few having tears in their eyes. Sophia felt a large amount of pity for them.

“And for those who are able to leave, I repeat, DO NOT use your abilities in public, or you’ll be brought back here. For how long, we’re still figuring that out, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Another hand raised. It was Iris. There’s got to be more to this! “So that’s it? Just don’t use our abilities and the Foundation will leave us alone?” There was a certain eagerness in Iris’s tone of voice. No more researchers pulling you in for those draining tests! No more bland cafeteria food! No more guards that looked at you like you were something stuck at the bottom of their shoe! A chance to actually be alive!

“Yes. Don’t go showing off in public and you won’t have to hear from us again” Sophia responded. An easy thing to obey. “Now, there is something else we need to discuss.”

The slide turned to a picture of three stick figures. One was an adult male, another an adult female and a small child in the middle. “I’m sure most of you are aware that your families were either amnesticized of your existence or were told that you were dead.” Sophia winced as she said it. It seemed more harsh now that she had said it out loud. From the looks of the crowd it seemed they had similar sentiments. “We’ll inform them of the Foundation and other aspects of the paranormal world and the need for secrecy. As for those who will be staying on-site, we’ll bring them here for official meetings. And speaking of those who’ll be staying on-site, there are some other changes that’ll be happening that we’ll think you’ll enjoy.”

The mood of the crowd brightened considerably.