Bab 247: A cruel world, a kind Foundation -242
Natasha Romanoff had been busy, even if things had been relatively calm lately, she hadn't gotten more missions, nor had she run into a living dragon or some other horrible SCP object.
Though, she felt like this was merely the calm before the storm. She was sure that there were a whole lot of dangerous SCP objects out there and that it was only a matter of time before another one made such a big mess even, she would notice it.
This didn't mean that she wasn't busy; the two missions she had been given months ago were still taking up her time and focus. It was clear to her that Fury wasn't taking any chance when it came to his secrets.
If it wasn't for the information the Foundation had given her, she would have doubted that these Skrulls were even real. She had found a few suspicious people so far, but everyone had just been either a Hydra agent hidden in Shield or some other hidden spy.
Then, when she tried to approach the investigation from a different angle and look for those who looked the least suspicious, she ended up finding one of the Foundation's own spies.
Those Skrulls really deserved to be a race that had built a galaxy-spanning empire through infiltration and sabotage.
Her skills as one of the very best spies and agents on earth found herself completely outmatched by their ability to remain hidden.
While she did entertain the idea that they might just no longer be active within Shield, she quickly dismissed it. If they were already starting to slowly infiltrate governments around the world, there was no way they didn't have someone in Shield, even if that was without Fury's knowledge.
That wasn't to say she hadn't found any clues so far. Raiding, one of Fury's secret safehouses, had yielded some information; sadly, the information was long out of date, and she had no leads to anything newer.
Her phone buzzed, pulling her out of her thoughts. The screen displayed a message from Graves, telling her that her request had been granted. "Well, that's a bit of good news I guess." She whispered under her breath as she made a call.
------------------
[SITE-019]
SITE-019 was busy as always, and even more busy lately, with SCP-049 still not doubt since he took the chance to escape confinement doing the last containment breach, there was pressure to get him contained again and fast.
In fact, the rumor going around was that the SITE Director was about to start demoting people to D-class for their continued failure in finding the elusive plague doctor.
However, that was hardly the only reason this SITE was so busy these days; in fact, much of the activity had very little to do with SCP objects. Instead, it involved people transporting large amounts of cargo back and forth.
Deep within the great class 5 facility, within a large open room, stood a large coffee machine. SCP-294 was seeing constant use and no rest at all. It was constantly asked to dispense a cup of liquid Vibranium, which was then quickly moved into a large special vat and mixed with other metals.
The reason that they were immediately mixed the pure Vibranium with other metals was because of how the coffee machine worked.
It didn't as much produce the metal out of nothing, as it somehow just was able to get access to the metal from across the planet. This meant that if you had a large amount of pure Vibranium stored next to the machine while requesting more, you might end up just getting the stuff from the container.
This was a tricky problem to overcome, yet the Foundation was nothing if not resourceful and able to figure out how to handle working around anomalous effects.
So, to avoid this, they have developed a special alloy of metals that would prevent the coffee machine from dipping into the contents it has already dispensed.
This did have the unavoidable side effect of making a random alloy rather than the pure Vibranium they wanted, which meant they had to use a long and difficult process to break the alloy down and get back out the pure Vibranium to use it. All things that weren't done here at SITE-019.
Still, a lot of effort was put into getting as much Vibranium as possible, as the top brass of the Foundation couldn't get enough of this wonder metal. Even going as far as to greenlight the plan for an invasion of Wakanda as soon as possible.
There just wasn't a project that didn't need more metal, from a new wardrobe for O5-5 made of super-thin metal threads to new containment rooms for all kinds of dangerous SCP objects.
O5-2 even planned to replace a large portion of SITE-001's walls with a layer of Vibranium to make the place even safer. And O5-3 was slowly selling off small amounts of it in exchange for shares in high-value companies in which he was stealthy trying to secure a controlling share.
Though the chaos brought about as metals were shipped in and out of the SITE without pause, wasn't why Natasha was here, nor why she had brought with her Melinda May along with her.
Even after Melinda joined the Foundation, Natasha didn't work with her much. They never had much of a relationship, and it would be suspicious if they suddenly started to get along without a reason.
Not to mention, they had their own missions keeping them busy, both missions given by Shield and, from time to time, those given by the Foundation. They were working two jobs at once, but luckily, they were getting paid two salaries as well, even if they couldn't access the Foundation pay while undercover.
"So this is the big secret place it is? Sure, looks impressive; hard to believe they have managed to hide this for so long." May couldn't help but say as she looked at SITE-019.
Natasha couldn't help but agree that the Foundation was such a massive organization and yet remained utterly unknown even to Shield and most governments of the world. She figured some parts of the government knew something about it, but even then, it couldn't be much.
Natasha gave a small nod, her sharp eyes scanning the busy activity of Site-019. "It's impressive," she said quietly. "But it makes you wonder what else they're hiding if this is just one of their sites."
May crossed her arms, her gaze narrowing as she observed the constant flow of materials and personnel. "The fact that we had no clue about this place… it makes me uneasy."
"Welcome to the Foundation," Natasha muttered. "Unease is practically part of the job description."
The trip through the SITE was nearly painfully slow. They constantly had to stop for checkpoints and show their IDs. Given the sheer size of the place, they had to pass through a lot of security checks before they finally reached their target.
May was feeling both a little nervous and excited as she stood outside the containment cell of SCP-166.
She hadn't seen her since she had been taken by the Foundation and had asked to be allowed to meet with her again; she wanted to be sure she was being treated well. However, it had taken a while to be allowed to get in here.
The Foundation was busy. She understood that. She had learned a bit more about them since she joined, and she really understood the importance of their work.
Natasha observed May quietly, understanding the significance of this moment. "You ready?" Natasha asked, her voice soft, though her eyes remained sharp, always scanning their surroundings.
May swallowed hard and calmed her heart. She was still not entirely over what had happened on that fateful mission, but she wanted to get over it, and clearly, ensuring that she had indeed saved Eden would help her. "Yeah, I'm fine."
The two of them changed into something else, their clothes and all other possessions left behind. They then had to shower carefully, cleansing their bodies and hair completely, ensuring that there were no contaminations brought into the chamber where 166 lived.
Once the rigorous decontamination process was complete, Natasha and May were led down a final corridor, each step echoing through the sterile, brightly lit halls of Site-019 slowly gave way for stonewalls.
They were still nicely made, but clearly, very primitive techniques were also used to make them. Both May and Natasha knew why this was happening. After all, the special effect of SCP-166 was the degradation of anything man-made, and the more advanced, the faster it failed.
The final door was made of wood; it was thick, heavy, and locked from the outside by a thick wooden beam. It was a far cry from the usual high-tech the Foundation used to contain the anomalous, but they were nothing if not adaptable.
As they opened the door, they were greeted by a giant room; it was at least a few stores high and lit by a mix of lamps and fire, and mirrors to increase the light from the flames. The room was filled with plants everywhere; it looked more like an outside garden than anything else.
The place was well maintained. Clearly, Eden took great care of her home, making sure the plants and flowers didn't grow out of control.
Deeper inside they finally found her. SCP-166, the teenage succubus, the teenage Gaea.
SCP-166, Eden, stood at the far end of the room, tending to a small cluster of flowers. Her ethereal beauty and the way she moved, with such grace and serenity, contrasted with the containment procedures surrounding her. The lush greenery around her swayed gently, almost as if it responded to her presence.
Eden, or SCP-166, was the perfect image of calm, her long silvery hair cascading over her shoulders, framing her delicate features. Despite the apparent isolation and the strange environment she was confined to, she appeared content—at peace, even.
As Natasha and May entered the space, Eden looked up, her eyes meeting May's with a warm, almost relieved expression. The connection between them was undeniable. May had saved her, taken her from a life of exploitation, and brought her here.
"Melinda," Eden said softly, her voice gentle but filled with emotion. "I didn't expect to see you again."
May took a breath, steadying herself. It was hard seeing Eden here—caged, no matter how pleasant her surroundings seemed. "I had to make sure you were okay," May said, her voice calm, though a hint of guilt lingered. "I needed to see how they were treating you."
Eden smiled softly. "It's not so bad. They take care of me. I'm safe here."
May couldn't help but curse the world that forced such an innocent being like Eden to hide inside a glorified prison cell just because she would be hunted down outside of here.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone