Why will you not let me see my own son? 
Are you spiting your own father? 

| love you. 

Arvind 


> To: Arvind Desai (pcs.24|iaseda#pcs.24|iaseda) 

> From: Santosh Desai (pcs.52al|iaseds#pcs.52aliaseds) 
> Subject: RE: RE: Visit? 

Yes. 


Santosh 


Ball Gags and Scrambled Eggs 


It was midnight when they dragged Dietrich and Bridge out of their 
beds, pinning them down before they had a chance to react. Filthy 
rubber ball gags were thrust into their mouths, followed shortly by 
black bags over the head. Despite struggling, they were quickly zip- 
tied by the wrists and ankles, and then thrown roughly out into the 
hallway. 


Dietrich struggled as best he could. He tried to blindly head butt his 
assailant, but missed. Before he could wind up for a second try he 
felt a pair of cold metal probes pressed against his bare inner thigh. 
"Try that again and I'll taze you until you shit yourself unconscious," 
a low voice growled. 


Dietrich froze. He had no desire to spend his last moments in soiled 
underwear. And he was fucking sick to death of being tased at this 
point. 


The next half hour passed by in a blur. He had the vague impression 
of being thrown into the back of a van together with Bridge who was 
also similarly bound and gagged. The van was driven for a long 
time, making sharp turns at odd intervals that indicated that the 
driver was trying to throw off his passengers’ sense of direction. 
Eventually, though, the van came to a halt. The doors were opened 
and both were dragged out of the vehicle, inside of cold room, and 
strapped to a chair. 


The bag was removed from Dietrich's head. His first impression was 
a bright flash of light: cold, hard, instantaneous, leaving a 
rectangular after-image in his abused retinas. Aside from that, only 
darkness and the vague impression of a sinister figure sitting in a 
high-backed chair. 


A low voice behind him growled in his ear. "Name." 


Dietrich mumbled helplessly around the ball gag. 


"Shit," the voice growled. A pair of hands wearing leather gloves 
removed the gag. 


Dietrich immediately screamed as loud as he could. "AAAHH! 
FUCK! HELP! SOMEBO- mmmpmmhpmmhh!" 


The gag was re-inserted and then Bridge's bag and gag was 
removed. The silent figure leaned forward into his ear. "Name." 


"I'm the god damned Wizard of Oz." Dietrich heard Bridge say, the 
sound of spitting soon following. Then the sound of another muffled 
cry as the ball gag was reinserted. 


Dietrich looked around desperately for any kind of reflective surface, 
and found none. His heart sank. Then his spirits rose. Alexandra 
might be listening. And if Alexandra was listening, there was a 
chance that rescue was already on its way. 


He let out another low, muffled cry, and the shadowy figure came up 
behind him, undid the buckle on the ball-gag. "Let's try this one last 
time," the deep voice sneered, and Dietrich felt the muzzle of a gun 
pressed against the back of his head. "Tell me your name." 


All Dietrich could do was stall. Stall for all he's worth till the cavalry 
rushed in. "D-Dietrich... Dietrich Lurk," he whimpered. "Pa's family 
was Scottish, that's where the last name comes from— oh God, just 
please don't kill me!" 


"That depends on how you answer this next question," the voice 
said. "What's Lambda Two?" 


"Lam... Lambda Two? | don't know nothin’ about any Lambda two!" 
Dietrich whimpered, then let out a high-pitched scream when he 
heard a pistol's slide being drawn back behind his head. "WAIT! 
WAIT! WAIT! Please!" he howled. "I-I-| can tell you something!" 


"Talk. Now!" the voice shouted angrily. 


"| heard a rumor! It's-It's a secret mobile task force! They're all 
beautiful women, they're all naked, and they do nothin’ but give Clef 


Addendum 2: Personnel who have made use of SCP-709 are 
encouraged to record their observations in Observation Log 709. 


« SCP-708 | SCP-709 | SCP-710 » 


blowjobs all day!" 


"WHAT!?" the voice shouted, and this time the cry was incredulous. 
He could hear Bridge cackling against the gag. "Where the FUCK 
did you hear that?" 


Dietrich pondered on his next response, and then he felt a hand 
clamped over his mouth. Then a gunshot went off. 


POP 


There was silence for only a second. The feeling of early morning 
piss running down his leg was a sure indicator that he was not dead. 
He was still alive? 


Then someone tipped over his chair onto its side, and he felt the 
ball-gag go back into his mouth... and then he heard someone come 
up behind Bridge and say, "I've just blown your redneck friend's 
brains out. Lie to me like he did, and you get the same. Now, tell me. 
What's Lambda-Two?" 


A slow, shuddering breath... and then, in a panicked, pissed off 
scream, Dietrich heard Bridge shout, "IT'S UP YOUR MOM'S ASS!" 


click 


The other lights turned on. Standing over Bridge was a gentleman in 
a hunter green suit. Dietrich muffled a question through the ball gag, 
then felt it slide out of his mouth. 


The room turned out to be a standard Foundation office block: 
Dietrich could see eight standard issue-cubicles of the type he'd 
spent countless hours in over the past few years. They were laying 
on plastic sheeting. The smell of urine and fear hung in the air. 


A man wearing a ridiculous hat, smiling mirthlessly, stood before 
them. "Well you both pass," Director Alto Clef said. 


"W-what!" Dietrich panted as he tried to regain his bearings. "You 
were fuckin’ with us?" 


Hands grabbed Dietrich by the shoulder as he was lifted right-side 


up off the hard floor. Then heard that same deep sinister voice. 
"Now the second part of the test is going to involve sexually 
pleasuring bodyguards for intel. You'll be practicing on us. Ready?" 


Bridge coughed as Dietrich audibly gulped, but it was overshadowed 
by his assailant's laughter. A woman in a matte-black catsuit walked 
around in front of him. "These vox converters are awesome," she 
said in a surprisingly deep manly voice: the same manly voice that 
was threatening him earlier. She removed the device from around 
her neck and tossed it back to Clef. "Andrea S. Adams. Pleased to 
make your acquaintance. You've already met Agent Foxx." 


Dietrich let out a frustrated sigh upon hearing that feminine voice. 
He'd been duped. Bridge cackled silently in relief and rage. 


"Did | hear that right, though? | mean, | nearly broke character when 
you said that there was an entire task force dedicated to giving Clef 
blowjobs." Adams glowered suspiciously at Clef, sitting at his desk. 

"Makes me wonder who's starting those rumors." 


"Wasn't me," Clef said. "Like | got the time or the semen for 
something like that. Let's get them cleaned up and have this 
meeting.” 


Everyone was calm and cool on the other side of the table. Both 
Bridge and Dietrich had trouble mixing the powdered creamer and 
sugar into their respective hot drinks with shaky hands. But their 
adrenaline was finally starting to plateau after getting changed into 
clean clothes. Alexandra's avatar was floating on the screen of the 
mounted LCD monitor on the wall and Merle was standing in a 
corner just listening to the conversation. 


Adams and Clef sat together with a stack of papers off to the side 
while Foxx leaned against an adjacent wall. 


"SO! | heard you both had a little trouble on the way in?" Clef sat 
there grinning from ear to ear with Adams on his left drumming her 
fingers. 


«I'll say! | can only protect these two so much you know.» Alexandra 


smiled broadly at the group. 


Bridge inhaled with a growl and said aloud what Dietrich was clearly 
thinking too. "Don't tell us you set that up too." 


"Moi? No no no no, not my style to organize a firing squad on the 
highway. No, | imagine whoever set that up is playing their own 
games with you. But that's something to get into later." Clef then slid 
a file folder across the table. "Omega Seven. Here is the official 
report of what really happened to them. You'll need to know this in 
order to know why you've been assigned to Lambda Two." 


Dietrich tilted his head. "Omega Seven's a dirty word whispered 
‘round the water cooler, sir. I've only read what was sent out after 
the accident... that and the rumors. Didn't believe either, but | 
always imagined it was a mix a both." 


Adams piped up. "The truth is far worse. Omega Seven completely 
shit itself and imploded. Lost a lot of collateral. Lost a lot of good 
folks." 


Clef nodded, then leaned forward. "Gents, according to all official 
records, Lambda Two is an adjunct task force intended to provide 
temporary support to other MTFs. For the foreseeable future, we will 
be adjunct to Mobile Task Force Alpha-Niner. Do you understand?" 


Everyone nodded. "Great," Clef continued. "Because that's all a lie. 
We're not Alpha-Niner's assistants. We're their babysitters." 


Bridge raised an eyebrow as he finished sipping his green tea. 
"Fuck's that mean?" 


Clef and Adams glanced at each other briefly, "To put it bluntly,” 
Adams said, "if you dig around a bit further, you'll find out that we're 
the eyes, ears, and the fail-safe." 


Dietrich was already skimming through the file. By the time he 
reached the fourth page, he stopped drinking his coffee altogether. 
"Is this for real? Able? He- ?" 


"Afraid so." 


Bridge already did his homework and didn't need to see the file. His 
clearance and access to reports were unquestioned. "So why do 
you need us? You'd need an army to go after a rogue task force." 


Clef just shook his head and chuckled. "Because our job isn't 
actually to make sure Alpha-Niner doesn't go rogue." 


Dietrich and Bridge both looked at each other confusingly but Clef 
held up a hand before either could comment. "Let me explain. 
Lambda Two doesn't actually exist. It exists on the charts, it has a 
budget, it has offices. But the entire Mobile Task Force is actually a 
cover for MTF Tav-666?" 


"Tau-666?" Bridge asked. 


"No, Tav," Clef snapped. "Hebrew alphabet, not Greek — why is that 
so hard for people? — anyway. Our mission is to make sure that 
Alpha-Niner doesn't explode in our faces." 


Dietrich nodded in understanding. "Ah." 


"...I'm not sure | understand," Bridge said. "Isn't that the same thing 
as watching over Alpha-Niner?" 


"Depends on how you define watching over," Adams interjected. "Do 
you mean in the sense of a prison warden? Or a bodyguard?" 


Bridge nodded in understanding. "Ah," he said, echoing Dietrich. 


"Alpha-Niner has the possibility of being the single most destructive 
thing to ever happen to the Foundation," Clef explained, "for two 
reasons. First of all, Alpha-Niner itself could go bad. Anomalies 
could go rogue. Able could happen again. But there's another 
possibility that's just as dangerous: sabotage." 


"Who?" Dietrich asked. 


"There are elements in the Overseer Council that have... a vested 
interest... in maintaining current policies regarding human 
anomalies," Clef said. He crumpled his paper cup and tossed it in 
the trash. "Given the recent information leaks and the current status 
of Alpha-Niner, we've decided that this is the more serious threat. 


So to go back and answer your question: a couple of techies might 
not help a lot when it comes to stopping a rogue Task Force. But 
they'd be a hell of a lot more useful in rooting out a saboteur." 


"And don't think that the choice of you two wasn't deliberate,” Clef 
continued. "Based on Agent Lurk's profile, he has the making of a 
man who has nearly made a profession of keeping under the radar. 
Him and his little friend both know the ins-and-outs of how to do just 
that." 


Dietrich's eyes grew as large as dinner plates. Merle only shrugged, 
signifying that he too was dumbfounded. 


"Alexandra-" 
Dietrich stopped holding his breath and relaxed. 


"-on loan from nineteen. Really a capable tool in achieving what is 
needed in the ways of surveillance. | saw how she handled herself 
after seventeen's little meltdown a few months ago. It impressed a 
lot more than just a few directors. Django Bridge... well... that was 
really Dietrich's choice to bring him along. Not my first pick but he'll 
do in a pinch." 


Bridge rolled his eyes and looked to Foxx who gave a nasally snerk 
at Clef's statement. "And Agent Foxx," Clef continued. "You three 
met during the EVAC. He's going to be your semi-official escort." 


"W-What?" Foxx stopped smirking. Bridge breathed a 'hah!"’. 


"You didn't get that memo? Yeah, with this last little assassination 
attempt they'll need an escort. Neither of them can shoot worth a 
damn, especially considering one of them is an ex-MTF. We won't 
mention any names for the sake of Dietrich Lurk." 


Dietrich opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but then quickly shut it. 
Foxx then walked over from the wall. "So I'm babysitting them?" 


Clef cocked his head slightly and leaned in his chair. "Just for a little 
while till things simmer down. Oh, and they'll need to crash at your 
place tonight. | can't have it on record that they were actually here. 
Espionage is a fickle bitch." 


Foxx opened his mouth to protest. "Before you even start," Clef 
interrupted, "I did ensure that you are under VIP watch off-site. 
Nobody will be kicking down your door before | kick them in the 
balls." 


He tossed a gold-plated USB drive to Bridge. "And you. Review that 
when you have a chance. Take care of it— it's the only copy." 


"Well, one of you will sleep on the couch. The other will need to 
make do with the floor." Foxx set down a duffel bag. 


"I'll take the floor, | don't mind.” Dietrich moved past him and the 
door frame and started looking around nervously. 


"You missing something, Dietrich?" Bridge came in behind him. 


"What? No. | just... it's a nice house." Dietrich set his suitcase and 
laptop bag in the corner. 


Foxx pressed his finger to his lips and whispered, "Shhh. Child is 
sleeping.” He pointed above his head. 


"Shit, sorry." 
"Sorry." 
"Now, | must go and pay the babysitter. Bathroom's down the hall." 


Dietrich made a B-line for the bathroom first. He closed the door 
gently and stared into the mirror. He hadn't seen Merle since they 
left the site. "Merle? Merle? Where the hell you run off to?" He 
shrugged and used the opportunity to shower privately, which was a 
rare treat for him. Bridge did the same when it was his turn. 


Dietrich stacked a few blankets on the floor and then draped one 
over himself. "At least I'm not gonna get kidnapped again tonight." 


«Um. Dietrich, sir. Would you mind plugging me in? I'm down to 
twelve percent on this battery.» 


"Woop. Sorry, Alex. Here." Dietrich fumbled for the charger and 


plugged his mobile device into the nearest outlet. "You want me to 
ask for the wifi password or—" 


«No need. | cracked it when we first got in range. I'm all good for 
syncing.» 


"Alright, good night then." 
«Night, sir.» 


Dietrich's phone went into a blank loading screen as Alexandra 
worked on syncing up with her mainframe counterpart. As he rolled 
over he saw Merle standing in the reflection of the metal refrigerator 
surface. Merle casually waved hello. Dietrich, knowing he wasn't the 
only one in the house, signed to him while lying down. 


WERE-DID-YOU-GO 


Merle paused and panned his head from side to side a bit before 
responding. 


JUST-WANTED-TO-LOOK-AROUND 


Dietrich started to sign back but paused when Bridge walked in. 
"You'll excuse me if | just go to bed direct, Dee. Kidnapping kinda 
wears me down." Dee, that's a familiar nickname he hadn't heard in 
a good long while. 


"Heh, no problem, Bridge. Night." 

"Night." 

Dietrich waited for him to roll over and then continued. 
STAY-AROUND-DO-NOT-WANDER 


Merle just dismissed him with a gesture and moved over to the 
reflection of the window as the lookout. His usual routine since he 
was incapable of sleep. It didn't take long for Dietrich to doze off.