บท 178: The end of SITE-160 -174
Bruce had just been sitting for a while, looking over the same data again and again as his mind was on something else, or rather someone else. Lena really had a way of taking up his attention. So full of life, yet as brilliant as they come.
As kind a Betty as well, but with her father… He really liked Betty, but he also liked Lena, and he had to admit, he didn't think he could be together with Betty, not with all the secrecy about the Foundation, not with the Hulk.
No, clearly, it wasn't meant to be, and Lena was perfect, like a ray of sunshine in the dark. Just as he figured that he would never be able to find love, he found someone with a heart big enough to love anyone and everything, including the Hulk and himself.
Yet he was still scared, after all he was an SCP object. And while he was treated mostly like a normal person that's to the protection offered by someone up high within the Foundation, he was still scared.
Could he possibly live a normal life? Could he really be together with someone, could he be trusted to not Hulk out and harm his loved ones? It was questions like these that kept him from attempting to pursue a more formal relationship with Lena.
He knew Oliver was trying to make him make a move in his own way with all his teasing. And he wasn't always wrong; often, in fact, he was spot on. Lena was strong, much stronger than most people; he doubted anything could scare her.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of alarms suddenly going off. The room instantly flooded with red emergency lights, And the near-deafening sounds of multiple alarms instantly filled the entire SITE.
[All personnel are to evacuate the SITE immediately! This is not a drill! Full SITE evacuation underway!]
A mechanical voice sounded loud enough to be heard even over all the alarms. Bruce was shocked for half a moment, confused by the sudden move from utmost calm to total chaos. He had almost started to think this place was safe; the Foundation seemed nearly untouchable.
Yet, he was quickly reminded that in front of the anomalous, few things were truly untouchable and safe, including this Foundation Site. Bruce quickly snapped himself out and stood up, taking his laptop under his arm. He made to leave before pausing as he spotted Oliver, just sitting frozen.
"Oliver! Quickly! We got to evacuate!" Bruce shouted as he noticed his friend was not moving.
The shout woke up Oliver, who steeled his heart at once and ran over to the wall where an emergency gun was stored. "Don't worry about me, Bruce; you need to get out of here now!"
"Don't worry about me, Bruce; you need to get out of here now!"
Bruce's heart sank. "Oliver, what are you doing? We need to go together!"
Oliver shook his head firmly, his eyes filled with resolve. "You go out first, Bruce; I will be right behind you." Oliver said.
However, Bruce got the feeling that he wouldn't follow him. He didn't know what was wrong, but he felt something was very wrong with Oliver.
Bruce hesitated, torn between his instinct to help his friend and the urgency of the blaring alarms. "Oliver, please, let's just go!"
Oliver looked at him with a mixture of sadness and determination. "Bruce, you have to trust me on this. I'll be right behind you. Go!"
Reluctantly, Bruce nodded and turned to leave, his heart heavy with worry.
Oliver stood, watching his friend leave and resolutely raising the emergency gun to his head.
A single gunshot echoed through the facility, and Bruce's heart shattered. He stumbled, his vision blurred by tears, but he kept running. The cold night air hit him like a slap, but he welcomed it, needing something to anchor him to the moment.
No one else paid much attention to the sound if they even heard it; everyone was running for every exit they could find. Outside every vehicle the SITE had to offer was getting loaded up, Bruce Spotted Director Trembley being rushed into a yet before he was pushed into the back of a car.
Bruce's heart was pounding in his chest as he was pushed into the back of the car. He barely had time to process what had happened. Oliver was gone, and the reality of his friend's sacrifice weighed heavily on him. The car sped away from the SITE, the chaotic sounds of the evacuation fading into the distance.
"Are you okay, Dr. Banner?" The driver, an MTF agent, glanced back at him through the rearview mirror. Bruce nodded numbly, not trusting his voice.
--------------------
[Director Tremblay]
Director Tremblay sat in his office, the glow of his computer screen casting long shadows in the dimly lit room. He was sifting through reports, trying to stay ahead of the various anomalies and incidents that constantly demanded his attention. The peace was suddenly shattered by the blaring of alarms, the red emergency lights flooding the room, and a mechanical voice echoing through the corridors.
[All personnel are to evacuate the SITE immediately! This is not a drill! Full SITE evacuation underway!]
Tremblay's heart skipped a beat. In his years at the Foundation, he had never heard such an urgent and all-encompassing evacuation order. He quickly stood up, grabbing his phone and trying to contact his senior staff. The line was dead.
Before he could process the implications, his office door burst open, and two MTF agents stormed in. "Director Tremblay, we need to evacuate you immediately."
"What's going on?" Tremblay demanded, trying to assert his authority. "I need to know what's happening!"
One of the agents shook his head. "Sir, we don't have time. Protocol Zeta-12B14: Blackcurtain has been activated. We need to get you out of here."
Tremblay's eyes widened. Blackcurtain was one of the highest-level emergency protocols, reserved for the most dire situations. "What about my staff? The researchers, the containment units—"
"We have orders to evacuate all personnel," the other agent interrupted, taking Tremblay's phone from his hand. "Sir, we need you to comply. No outside communication is permitted for personnel of class 4 or higher."
Tremblay's frustration boiled over. "You can't just cut me off! I need to know what's happening! Who activated Blackcurtain? What are we dealing with?"
The agents remained stone-faced. "We don't have that information, sir. Our priority is your safety. Please, we need to move now."
Seeing no other option, Tremblay followed the agents, his mind racing. They guided him through the chaos of the evacuation, past panicked researchers and other personeel. The scene was surreal, a well-oiled machine thrown into disarray by an unseen threat.
As they reached the secure transport area, Tremblay tried again. "There must be someone who knows what's going on. I demand to speak with whoever is in charge of this operation!"
One of the agents finally turned to him, his expression softening slightly. "Sir, all I can tell you is that this is above our pay grade. We're following the protocol. Please, get into the vehicle."
He was more or less forced into one of the Few quinjets the SITE had and without anyone listening to him it took off. He quickly looked around, finding himself in the company of most of his own senior personnel, who all were eager to ask him questions.
Director Tremblay looked around the cramped interior of the quinjet, his senior staff seated around him, their faces masks of concern and confusion. They all looked to him for answers he didn't have, and the weight of their expectations pressed down on him.
"Director, what the hell is going on?" Dr. White, the head of biocontainment, demanded. "Why the sudden evacuation? What is Protocol Zeta-12B14?"
Tremblay raised his hands, trying to calm the rising tension. "I don't know any more than you do," he admitted, his voice steady despite the turmoil inside him. "They activated Protocol Blackcurtain, and we were ordered to evacuate. I haven't been given any details."
Dr. Liu, the lead researcher on anomalous artifacts, shook his head. "This is insane. They can't just cut us off like this. We need to know what we're dealing with."
"I understand your frustration," Tremblay said, trying to project authority. "But right now, our priority is to follow the evacuation orders and ensure everyone's safety. We'll get answers once we're in a secure location."
Though his attempt at reestablishing some order was thrown to the ground as the jet suddenly accelerated to multiple times the speed of sound, throwing him and the others violently to the ground.
"What are you doing!?" she screamed at the pilot who was sweating under his helm, having just received an automatic notification about Protocol Zeta-12B14.
"Just up an update, Director; part of the protocol is that the SITE that invokes it have their on-site nuclear self-destruction device detonate!"
The words hit Tremblay like a punch to the gut. The reality of the situation sank in—SITE-160 was going to be obliterated. The scale of the emergency that warranted such a drastic measure was beyond anything he had ever encountered.
Dr. White, having finally managed to strap herself into a seat, looked pale. "A nuclear detonation? Are they out of their minds?"
Tremblay ended up just strapping himself down as well. He knew that he couldn't do anything in this situation; clearly, whatever was going on had blocked his authority in the name of his safety; such protocols were far above his level of messing with.
The best he could do was pray that he wasn't for some reason responsible for this happening, and that he would have to take responsibility for SITE-160s total destruction.
As the vehicle sped through the cold, dark night, Bruce's mind raced. He replayed the events in his head, trying to make sense of everything. Oliver's sudden and tragic decision left a gaping hole in his heart, and the weight of it pressed down on him like a physical burden.
He wished he knew why he did such a thing, why didn't he just evacuate? Why did he kill himself? What in the world was going on here?
Well at least Lena had already left the SITE hours before, so she wasn't in danger, but poor Oliver, what in the world had pushed him to take his own life like that.
The car they were in was racing along the single road connecting their remote SITE with the rest of the world. Maybe other vehicles too were speeding along, with aircrafts and helicopters taking to the skies.
Everyone was getting as far away as possible, though no one knew why they were doing it, only that the order to evacuate had been given.
Bruce sat in the car, staring blankly ahead as the scenery blurred past the windows. His mind was a whirlwind of confusion, grief, and fear. He clutched his laptop tightly, as if it were a lifeline in this sea of chaos. The questions swirled relentlessly in his head: What had Oliver known? Why had he chosen to end his life rather than evacuate? What horror had been unleashed at SITE-160?
The MTF agent driving the car remained silent, focused on the road. Bruce wanted to ask questions, to demand answers, but he knew the agent likely knew as little as he did. They were all in the dark, racing against an unseen enemy.
The driver then suddenly cursed, drawing attention from Bruce and the others.
"What's wrong?" Bruce asked, his voice barely steady.
"The fucking SITE is about to detonate its nuclear payload! And we are far too close for my liking."
Bruce's heart skipped a beat. The driver's words sent a chill down his spine. He had suspected things were dire, but a nuclear detonation? It was beyond anything he had imagined.
"We need to get as far away as possible, and fast," the driver continued, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel.
Bruce nodded numbly, gripping his laptop even tighter. The reality of the situation was beginning to sink in. SITE-160, with all its secrets and personnel, was about to be obliterated. And he had no idea why.
"Is there any way to stop it?" Bruce asked, his voice tinged with desperation.
The driver shook his head. "Once the protocol is activated, it's irreversible. Our only option is to get as far away as possible and hope we're out of the blast radius."
Bruce slumped back in his seat, feeling a crushing weight settle over him. The car continued to race through the night, the darkness outside mirroring the uncertainty and fear that gripped everyone inside.
And then, suddenly, night turned to day. Bruce and everyone else knew not to look towards the SITE, knowing the light of the explosion would damage their eyes. Not to mention, they all turned their heads away, trying to shield themselves from the glass as the windows would no doubt shatter.
The shockwave hit them a moment later. The car skidded as the blast wave slammed into it, but the driver managed to keep it on the road. Bruce felt the pressure in his ears change, and he instinctively curled into himself, trying to make himself as small as possible.
When the noise and the shaking subsided, Bruce slowly uncurled and opened his eyes. The driver was still white-knuckled at the wheel, but they were alive. The car's windows were cracked but miraculously intact. The air was thick with dust and debris.
"We need to keep moving," the driver said, his voice tight with tension. "We're not out of danger yet."
Bruce nodded, swallowing hard. The destruction of SITE-160 weighed heavily on him. He thought of all the people who had been there, the friends and colleagues he might never see again. He thought of Oliver, his last moments and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.
A/N
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