Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Again - SCP Foundation

⚠️ content warning

previously

The world is burning, but you already know that part. There’s something almost beautiful about watching the fires from a distance. Clef knows he’ll soon be burning too, but at least he can enjoy the view until then.

Adams is dead, killed on an Alpha-9 mission, so Clef is told. And Draven… He never did find out where the kid went. It isn’t important anymore, they were always disposable assets to the Foundation. Clef considers them lucky, at least they got out of here. Clef’s seeing this shipwreck to the end.

"O5-12 has arrived to see you," his new assistant informs.

"Tell him to fuck off," Clef says.

"Sending him in now," his assistant replies.

It really is beautiful out. He should be doing something about this but… he’s so tired. He’s been tired for as long as he can remember.

Twelve enters alone.

Clef doesn't bother turning around to greet him. "So what the hell do you want?"

"Is this how you talk to all the O5s?" Hey wait-

Clef turns around, narrowing his eyes at Twelve. “Oh, it’s you…”

O5-12, who was once a man named Troy Lament, smiles. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes, it never did. The world is ending, and some aren’t seeing the big finale. The list is handwritten.

Right there, on the bottom of the list. It couldn’t be an accident.

"Your people fucked up here. Kondraki's been dead over a decade. Someone… shot him in the head."

Twelve just smiles.

They knew. All of them knew, they always did. They always fucking did.

…

Andrews Bjornsen

Karlyle Aktus

Kate McTiriss

Zyn Kiryu

Ralph Roget

Avery Solace

Rose Labelle

Quikngruvn Halifax

Maria Jones

Chelsea Elliott

Simon Glass

Django Bridge

Everett Mann

They’re all just names. Maybe some of them used to be friends. Doesn’t matter anymore.

There’s a gap in the list, a notable space between Everett Mann and Kain Pathos Crow. It’s a strange placement for a gap, standing out among the closely knit scribbled names. Charles Gears is supposed to go there, but of course, Nobody knows who Charles Gears is anymore.

Nobody is sitting in the director’s office. He looks like how Clef feels, if maybe a bit cleaner. A gun sits on the desk beside him. Clef freezes in the doorway.

Nobody doesn’t look at him, the only sound is the soft scratch of pen to paper and the distant roar of the end of the world. It’s almost serene, he could get lost in this moment. Part of him has already been lost in his moment.

“There’s no need to hesitate,” says Nobody. He says it so casually. Clef looks him in the eyes and sees the flickering reflection of light pouring in through the window.

"I realize you are here to carry out my scheduled execution. My affairs are in order. I have done the same for Doctor Crow. I would have carried out the deed myself, but I was informed the process needed to be executed either directly or indirectly by you."

Clef chuckles, he’s not sure at what specifically. Maybe it’s how he says the word execution. Execution, like Clef is some sort of revolutionaire, and not a trained attack dog.

“Is that it?” Clef isn’t sure who he’s asking. Of course that’s it. He kills Nobody, the O5s smash the big red reset button, nothing Clef has gone through for the past… nothing before or after this moment will have ever mattered.

Nobody nudges the pistol towards Clef. Clef wonders, vaguely, if it’s the same gun he used on Kondraki. It probably isn’t, but the thought crosses his mind. He approaches the desk in the manner of someone approaching a rotted corpse.

“I would have liked to do more to help cover your tracks, but…” Nobody trails off, eyes drifting from Clef to the floor. He slides open a drawer and holds out a package. “The coordinates for the current location of Dr. Kondraki."

“How long…” Clef decides not to finish that question, it wouldn’t make him feel better. He stares at the package for several long moments before taking it. It doesn’t feel real, but then again, what does?

"I do have a last request." He stands and presses a vial into Clef’s hand. “For Kain… It’ll make his death quick and happy. I… he left a note for you in his office.”

“I don’t understand.”

"I've already put him into a coma…” Nobody winces. “He wouldn’t want you to have to see him when you did this. His body is in a closed kennel with an IV hook up. You need only insert this into the IV."

Clef stares at him, Nobody stares back. Both fail to find their words.

Clef puts the vial and package in his pockets. He looks around, surveying the neat office space. It’s almost completely empty, as clean as a well used room could be. Everything exactly in its place.

“Are you happy like this?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Nobody doesn’t say a word. Clef sighs.

“Come get a drink with me,” he says, very suddenly.

“What?”

“Come get a drink with me,” Clef repeats.

“I… can’t.”

“Why not? The world’s on fire, everyone’s gonna be fucking dead in like two weeks, either I shoot you now or I do it later. There’s nothing left for us here.”

“I don’t know what you want…”

“I think I’ve made my wants as clear as possible.”

Another silence, followed by floorboards creaking as Nobody steps towards him. Clef nods, once, and they leave Site-19 together.

…

The streets are empty, even the veiled citizens can sense the end times. Perfectly fine by Clef. His truck takes several tries to start up, and he cruises through the ghost town with Nobody in the passenger’s seat.

The Bitter End’s neon sign hasn’t worked for years, it only occasionally offers a few disjointed flickers. The lights are on, but no one’s inside. Clef takes out Nobody’s pistol, sticks a bullet in the lock, and kicks the front door open. It looks like the aftermath of a riot, the floor hidden under a layer of grime.

Clef hops over the bar, finding two unbroken bottles of beer. He pulls off the caps with his teeth and hands one to Nobody. Nobody looks like he’s never held a bottle in his life. Clef smacks them together in a mock toast and they both drink.

“Aren’t you gonna say something?”

“I have no lines left…” The script has ended, he was supposed to die back in his office.

Come on…” his voice verges on desperation.

“I’m not sure what you want from me anymore.”

I hate you, Clef does not say. You hurt me, he doesn’t say that either. Something changed, you slipped through my fingers and I don’t even know when, he would never say. I miss you, he feels echo around the hole where his heart once sat. I love you.

“I’m tired,” he finally settles on. “I’ve been tired for so, so, so fucking long. Before you, before… before Konny, before the Foundation. I’m just… so tired.” He puts his face in his hands and chuckles, a scratchy, broken sound.

Nobody shifts. “Seems… fitting things end here. Right where things began.”

“Did things begin here? … That’s funny actually, I like a good full circle.” He leans in, resting his head against Nobody’s chest. “The Bitter End, hehehe, I just thought about it.”

Nobody rests his hand on the back of Clef’s head, like Clef is some sort of dog. Not a bad feeling. Nobody can only stare off into the distance.

“Did we… deserve this?” Clef asks.

“Would it be easier if we did?”

The stool squeaks as Clef straightens out. “I don’t know. Aren’t you supposed to know things in the end? Isn’t there supposed to be closure?”

Nobody opens his mouth, only to be cut off by Clef jamming their faces together. He leans back, propping himself up with the countertop. It’s not a good kiss, but it’s an eager one, and Nobody matches the desperation.

For the full minute the kiss lasts, Clef can forget everything. If nothing will ever matter again, then Clef can stay in this moment. The world can end tomorrow for all he cares.

He pulls back and observes the dusting on pink on Nobody’s cheeks. Neither moves, neither dares to. Just as quickly, the trance slips, and Clef remembers what he has to do.

“It shouldn’t have to end like this.” He drags his knuckles against the side of Nobody’s face. Nobody closes his eyes, for a moment gone from this world.

“It was always going to end like this,” he says, distantly. “The end was the first thing written.”

Clef snorts. “Feeling poetic tonight, aren’t we?”

“I’ve had… quite a bit of time to contemplate this… contemplate everything I did… you have every right to still be mad with me.”

“I was never… augh, I was never mad at you. I thought I was, I thought I was so fucking angry, but it was never you.” He laughs, wiping away the few tears at the corners of his eyes. “I’ll give you one thing, you fucked me up bad, but I think I fucked you up too… I guess we’ll know better for next time, huh?”

Nobody tilts his head to one side and nods slowly. “Next time…”

As the same thought passes through both minds, they stand up, abandoning their drinks.

“Goodbye… Charles.” Clef stands on his tiptoes to peck him on the lips. "You were the best of us."

“Goodbye, doctor. It has been a pleasure.”

A pleasure… yeah right.

Clef lets himself believe it.

And then he pulls the trigger.

Gears hits the ground, the death nearly instant. Clef may be shaky, but he knows his stuff.

He turns the lights off on the way out.

…

When Clef steps into Gears’s house, the door creaks, echoing through long and empty halls. His footsteps kick up a layer of dust. It’s been a long time since anyone has lived here.

He finds a corner in the kitchen and has a seat, resting his head against the cabinets. He lets his eyes close, the sound the house washes over him. A wind passes by, causing the front door to sway.

What is he waiting for? He asks himself. He’s not sure why he thought there would be something here for him. It’s just a house. Just a house… Its only companion dead.

Right, he had another reason to come here. He stands up and returns to his truck. Four tanks of gasoline wait for him. He grabs one and begins making a slow, and methodical circle around the house.

He pours a tank on the floor, splashes the wall, until he’s emptied all four tanks and he’s sure every inch is soaked. The house makes no sign of protest, even as Clef steps outside and pulls out his lighter.

The fire can be seen from Site-19, but no one’s ever lived in that place, so they pay it no mind. More important work to be done.

If Clef can do one thing right, he hopes he helped his friend to rest.

…

The bus driver gives him an odd look as Clef explains where he wants to be dropped off. Maybe it’s because it’s the middle of nowhere, maybe it’s because Clef is covered in blood and vomit and is carrying a shotgun. It’s well past midnight by the time they stop. Clef is the only one on board. He tips his hat to the driver on his way off, only polite.

A cold breeze brushes past, it feels nice against his too warm face. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and holds it. The bus drives off behind him, the crickets chirp, a moth tap tap taps against the light overhead. Gears’s pistol in his pocket, one bullet in his shotgun, one last confrontation to be had.

Clef observes the shack from a distance. It’s small, cozy even, surrounded by forest. It was quite a walk from here to the nearest road. Exactly the sort of place Kondraki would love. It hurts to look at.

Clef steps into the clearing and he’s sitting in a fold-out chair before a lake, watching how the moon’s reflection ripples across the peaceful surface. At the hissing sound of a beer can, Clef glances at Kondraki. Kondraki licks the foam off his hands and the side of the can, looking stupid while doing so. Clef sips at his drink.

Kondraki scoots his chair a little closer to Clef. They lean against each other. Neither says a word, afraid to break the strange peace that’s passed over both of them. Clef doesn’t think about how vulnerable he feels right now.

“Clef?” Kondraki’s breath stinks of beer.

“Hm?”

“‘M tired…”

Clef glances at Kondraki’s watch. They’re both up far too late. He looks around, taking mental note of all of the crushed up cans they’ve left on the ground. Kondraki’s eyes are closed, he looks a million miles away.

“Okay,” Clef says, getting to his feet with some effort, “that’s enough, let’s get you home.”

Kondraki mumbles something as Clef tugs him to his feet. They stumble along in tandem, both of them dragging their chairs behind them. They pack up in Clef’s truck, Clef lets the heater warm up before he drives.

Clef’s cabin is right next to their lake shore drinking spot. Clef thinks about driving Kondraki all the way home and back and feels a headache coming on. He pulls up into his driveway and nudges Kondraki awake.

Little Shit excitedly scrambles up to Kondraki, barrelling face first into his shin. He leans down to pet its head, ruffling up its greasy fur.

“Meow!”

“Merow?” Kondraki replies inquisitively.

“Mow!”

In Clef’s bedroom, they both make a pile of clothes on the floor and crawl into bed. The bed is hardly appropriate for two full grown men, but they make it work. Little Shit hops into bed and curls up between them, like a child crawling into bed with their parents.

Kondraki leans in and pecks Clef on the lips. Clef is almost embarrassed by how chaste it is. Stupidly tender.

“Hey Clef? What are we?”

Clef chokes on nothing. “What kinda stupid ass question is that?”

“I think it’s a perfectly reasonable question!”

Clef scoffs and rolls his eyes. “What do you want us to be?”

“Now who’s asking stupid questions!”

A beat passes.

“If I say something real sappy will it kill the mood?” Kondraki whispers. “Because I think I-”

"YOU'RE WALKING IN THE WOODS. THERE'S NO ONE AROUND AND YOUR PHONE IS DEAD. OUT OF THE CORNER OF YOUR EYE YOU SPOT HIM-”

A whisper: “Troy Lament.” It’s Kondraki’s voice.

Clef violently flinches. He puts his hand over his heart. What an absurd thing to potentially kill him. He stares in disbelief for several minutes, stunned to silence.

The front door of the shack hangs wide open, like the mouth of an animal. Surely Clef should feel relieved, Kondraki’s not an idiot, he’s long gone, and Clef doesn’t have to do this.

A twitch in the shadows. So small he could have ignored it, could have told himself he didn’t see it. He could have walked away fully believing that Kondraki had left and that he wouldn’t be able to finish him off.

“Oh, and now I'm going to believe a word that comes out of that polymorphic pie hole?”

Clef grits his teeth. He’s too close to this to ever let it go, there was no other way for this to end. He swallows down his nausea and steps inside.

The shadow moves quickly; Kondraki steps into the light, ripping Clef’s shotgun out of his hands.

"Sit the fuck down!" He barks, and then, immediately- "You're not Lament."

Oh God, Clef feels like the wind has been forced out of him. Kondraki stands tall, casting a shadow over Clef. A billion words rush into his mind, none escape his lips. Kondraki shifts uncomfortably.

He leans over the flick off the radio. "They sent you? Didn't think they'd have the balls. Figured it would be Lament. Best agent they actually consider expendable… you’ve… still got my coat."

“You’re looking well, Kon,” Clef forces out. Kondraki gives him an odd look. Clef already looks like total shit, like a man who's been dragged unconscious through a sewer, he probably sounds like shit too, not that he can hear much over the roar of his own blood.

"Keeping healthy," Kondraki says. "Hunt and gather. Strict workout regimen." He pats his stomach. "Important for living on the run. Gotta stay healthy. Always." He frowns, brows furrowed. "You let me take your gun."

His eyes flick between Kondraki’s face and his shotgun. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

Clef shrugs.

A bird claws in the distance. A river flows. The cracks in the sky get a little wider. The moon dips below the horizon. Kondraki sighs.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You were dead,” Clef says, like Kondraki is an idiot. “Shot in the head. I saw your funeral. I filled your goddamn corpse full of lead!” Clef clutches his stomach, breaking out in a cold sweat. He trembles, he hates how he can’t control his own body.

"I heard," Kondraki says, having the gaul to sound ashamed of himself. "Hear tell you missed most of the shots, too. Just like you." He laughs without humor. “Why are you here?”

“Had to be.”

“No, why are you here? I know you, I know you. You'd have never fallen for a trick like that, not in a million years." Kondraki takes a step forward, Clef takes a step back.

“Guess I’m just tired.” Clef looks like someone who’s more than just tired, he looks empty.

“What’s up with you?” Kondraki sets Clef’s shotgun down. “This isn’t like you. Normally you’d be all up in arms. Where’s your bite? You’re acting like-” Kondraki squints. “You’re acting just like…”

Clef starts to laugh.

“What’s so funny.”

“You don’t even know who you want to compare to me!” Clef cackles, tears pouring down his face. He gasps sharply, his lungs burning with the effort. Kondraki backs up, face twisting into cold terror, though Clef can’t imagine what’s wrong. The walls creak and pull inwards, pushing Kondraki closer and closer to the center.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through!” Clef screams. The walls crack, blood and mold and filthy water pools on the floor. “You don’t know who I am! What I’ve lost! You don’t even know what you’ve lost! And you have the audacity to-!”

There is an important distinction that must be drawn between the words dissection and vivisection, a distinction that would appear to be lost on you. “Up or down,” shouts the fish, “you have to choose!” I still get nightmares, in fact I get them so often I should be used to them by now. I’m not. When the dust clears, a figure is clear, surrounded by the twisted, mangled wreckage of the semi-truck, Andrea Adams stands tall, completely unharmed. “I don’t understand what’s so important about this book,” Iris says. She reaches out to touch the top page but Meri’s hand shoots out, grasping her wrist. “I don’t think I like it here very much,” says the scorpion. “Why?” Responds the frog, “Because one day something’s going to eat you alive?” The Fish: You only looked at the right. Never walked to it, you are stuck at the left. The emerald cockroach wasp or jewel wasp will sting the cockroach in between the eyes, rendering the cockroach braindead, and thus, a suitable host for the mother’s eggs. Solange: I want to help you. I want to comfort you, but I know I disgust you. I'm repulsive to you. And I know it because you disgust me. When slaves love one another, it's not love. “Up or down,” shouts the frog, “you have to choose!” LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. [Claire (As Estragon) and Solange (As Vladimir)] It may haunt itself, inventing ghosts to walk its floors, making friends with its shadow puppets, laughing and whispering to itself at the end of some quiet cul-de-sac. “Do you trust me?” Foundation registered reality anchor #4,345 wasn’t sure quite when it woke up. “It’s been a pleasure,” says the jewel wasp. “You were always the best of us,” says the cockroach. And then he raises the gun. Fix dad, fix dad, fix dad, fix dad, fix dad, you have to fix dad. “Hahaha! Hell no!” When the scorpion's eggs hatch, the larva will feast on the body of the frog. “Why did you leave me?” Asks the house. “It’s in my nature,” answers Nobody. “Look out the window,” Whateley commands, “we only see this once a year.” The scorpion lines up his camera and snaps a picture of the manifestation. You do not have a file on the deceased Foundation agent code-named Iceberg. No one has a file on the deceased Foundation agent code-named Iceberg. “You know,” begins the house, “I don’t think I like it here very much.” This Is Not For You. SCP-4231-B looks down and sees a fish swimming underneath A’s reflection. “Have you ever tried… killing yourself?” I have. “What was it like?” Factotum Network collapses, her blood soaking into the fine carpet. The jewel wasp stings the scorpion between the eyes, rendering it braindead. Thinking about writing an evil clears au where, following the loss of Kondraki and Iceberg, Clef and Gears throw themselves into the worst relationship ever. “And did God hear?” He heard and did not stop the fall. Alison scoops up her cat. “I won’t force you to come with me,” she says, sparing Draven one long look, “I’m just saying you’ll learn a lot more at a library than you ever will here.” She drops to her knees, the Sheriff’s blood soaking into her stockings. “I have no mouth,” she says. “And I must scream,” says the frog. “And I must scream,” says the fish. “And I must scream,” says the author. “And I must scream,” says L.S. “And I must scream,” says the Foundation. “And I must scream,” says then house. “And I must scream,” says the cockroach. Clef collapses.

Kondraki blinks away the terrified tears that threaten to spill over. He scrambles into a corner, hand over his too fast heart. He gasps, each quick breath felt like he was swallowing needles. His eyes dart around his shack. The walls aren’t full of mold, everything is exactly as it should be. Clef lays on the floor, face obscured.

“Holy shit!” He wheezes. Crawling on his hands and knees, and kneels by Clef’s side. He rolls Clef over, gently brushing the back of his fingers against Clef’s beard. Clef breathes slowly and does not open his eyes. “I’m sorry,” Kondraki whispers. “I’m sorry I left you.”

“‘M tired…” Clef mumbles, leaning into Kondraki’s touch. He smells of pine needles and tree sap. “I want to go home.”

“Oh Alto…” he whispers, because he doesn’t know what else to say. “You know, I wasn't gonna let that bastard Lament kill me. But you… This is how it should be. This is how it should properly end. The two of us, together."

Clef chuckles weakly. “Kondraki?”

“Yes?”

“I have something I need to tell you…”

Kondraki opens his mouth, but he never gets a chance to say anything. In two seconds, Clef whips out Gears’s pistol and shoots him between the eyes, rendering him braindead.

"You should've put a bullet through my skull, Kon," he says, watching as the last twitches of life settle down. "Why couldn't you just…"

“-love you.”

Clef blanches. “What?”

“Don’t make me repeat it.”

Clef snatches both sides of Kondraki’s face. “What did you say?”

“I love you?”

“You’re disgusting,” Clef says, tears twinkling in his eyes.

Kondraki snorts. “We’re disgusting, Clef.”

Clef sniffles grossly. “God, you’re awful. I think I love you too.” Clef rests his head on the deadman’s chest. “I love you too.”

Sunlight streams through the open door.

…

“Oh, it’s you,” Clef meant to put a little more force into it, but it just comes out uninterested. “You weren't on the list." He looks down at the sliver chains squeezing his body. It doesn’t hurt, it might even be comfortable under different circumstances.

"Sloppy of them," she says. "Hello, Clef. My name is Sophia Light. You killed my ex-boyfriend. Prepare to die." She brandishes a thirteen inch chef’s knife.

He forces out a snort at hurt reference. “Fitting… The final girl kills the monster at the end.” He sighs, staring wistfully at the Bloom. “I hate to end things like this but…” there’s nothing left for him to say.

She grabs him by the shirt collar and lines up the tip of the knife with his windpipe.

“You know that house that’s right next to SIte-19?” He asks.

“The one you burned down?”

“That’s the one. Do me a favor and make sure nobody ever buys that place.”

She nods as if she understands, and then she plunges the knife through his throat.

.

.

.

[Dr. Gears (as Gears) steps into Dr. Clef’s (as Clef) office, holding a ratty jacket]

Gears: [Stiffly] “How are you feeling, Dr. Clef?”

Clef: [Manic] “Like a million bucks! You want something?”

Gears: “I wanted to check on you.”

Clef: “Well? You’ve checked on me.” [He leans over, chest to the desk, to wrap his fingers around the shotgun on the floor]

Gears: [He looks at the clock] “It’s well past your required hours. Are you in any state to get home?”

Clef: [Through his teeth] “I’m fine.”

Gears: “I am…” [A pause] “I am concerned you are not in your right mind at the moment.”

Clef: “Oh I’m in my right mind alright!” [He slams the shotgun down on his desk, finger curled around the trigger] “I’m in the best mind I’ve ever been in!” [He blinks, expression twisting from a grin to a confused frown]

Gears: [Tense] “You are under the influence. I will take you home safely.”

Clef: [Clef looks at his shotgun and his office like it’s the first time he’s ever seen it. He lets the shotgun slip from his fingers] “Alright.” [A pause] “I would like to go home.”

Gears: [A nod] “Good.”

[Gears approaches and takes Clef’s hand. Clef and Gears exit the office. End of Act I]

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