R-26266

Chapter 8

Photo Credit: @space_cow_boyy on Twitter.com

I watch the clock hit 10:45 and begin to make my way to the door of my dorm. I open it enough to be able to check for any passing security guards. Lucky for me, none are in sight and I make my way silently down the hall, sliding around corners in my socks when the need arose. I arrive at the closet about 10 minutes later to find Wil already waiting there nervously twiddling his fingers. I tap him on the shoulder and wave for him to follow me as I walk towards Phil's unit. I place my hand on decontam and hope to god there are no guards walking past that heard it. We rush into Phil's unit and hide behind his bed as the doors open and a security guard peeks in with his flashlight. We see him leave a few minutes later after quickly scanning the room for anything out of place. I let out a sigh of relief before signalling for Wil to stay still while I wake Phi. I place my hand gently on his shoulder and shake lightly, causing him to stand up immediately and move into a defensive stance.

"Hey Phil. It's just me. Chill out," I say quietly.

"Jesus you scared the sh*t out of me. Why are you here so late?"

"I need to know who I can trust and if the man I brought with me is one of them."

"Who?"

"Wilbur." Wil walks towards me slightly with a hopeful look on his face.

"Of course you can trust him. My son's been skeptical of everything since he started here." I can almost see the smile on Phil's face and the tears in Will's eyes as he rushes past me and wraps his arms tightly around his father.

"Not that this isn't heartwarming and all, but we're kind of on a time crunch. Who is to be trusted, Phil?"

"My memory is still a little fuzzy because of what they dosed me with, but I have figured out a few. Niki, the furry, and the 2 behavior people that have worked with me are all clean. I wouldn't trust Techno. He might give off the idea that he doesn't like Eret, but he wasn't always a hybrid either. The dose they gave him actually worked so he doesn't remember sh*t and would probably return to him at a moment's notice. Don't put your trust in any new hybrids either. SCPs should be fine. Keep an eye on Tommy and Tubbo as well. Tommy was found as an SCP, but Tubbo is man made. I haven't been able to figure out Ranboo, but you seem to have faith in him so do what you will. That's everyone I've figured out for now." I open my mouth to reply but am quickly silenced by the door opening. Thankfully the lights are out and Phil's wings are rather large, as I quickly squeeze under his bed and Wil gets wrapped in the large wings. I hear the door to a containment unit open and from the shadow created by the lights in the decontam before it, I can tell it's Eret. The doors quickly close behind him.

"Which unit did he go into? I couldn't tell from down here."

"It looked like maybe Ranboo's. If not him, then Tommy and Tubbo's."

"Sh*t. We gotta figure it out. I don't need a panicking Ranboo at midnight. I'm less concerned about the other 2 as Tommy doesn't go into a panic and he helps Tubbo out of his." The door from decontam reopens a few minutes later and I make a mental note under the bed where he came from. Once Eret's left the room, I scramble from under the bed and make a dash to the unit he came from. I slam my hand on the scanner and run through decontam. Thankfully, it's not Ranboo but Tubbo is whining and whimpering over a mass on the ground that I can only assume to be Tommy. I walk to them swiftly and kneel next to Tubbo who clings to me almost immediately. I wrap my arms around him almost as quickly.

"Shhh. It's okay Tubs. You're okay. It's safe now."

"T... tom...my"

"I know. I can't see right now so I can't help him but I'll be in as early as possible. Can you make sure he keeps breathing for me?" I feel his head nod and a small whimper is released from the small boy before me. I look at my watch, the illuminated numbers coming in handy telling me it's about 1 in the morning.

"Okay. I'll be back in 3 hours. That's when I'm allowed to leave my dorm. Keep him safe, okay Tubbo?" Another small sound is there in response and I stand, gently removing Tubbo's arms and leaving the unit. Wil is leaving Phil's unit at the same time.

"We need to get back here as soon as possible. He hurt Tommy but I couldn't see how. I'm going to tell Niki too. Might want to alert Fundy when you get back to your dorm. Stay safe." Wil nods shortly and sneaks out of the room, myself following close behind.

Once arriving safely back in my dorm I run to Niki's room.

"Niki! Niki wake up!" She jumps up with a small scream before realizing it's me.

"You scared me. Why are you waking me up at 1 in the morning?" I recount the whole story of what Wil and I saw and learned and asked if she'd be willing to get up with me so we could get there as quickly as possible. Immediately she agreed and told me she'd make sure I was awake but to go to sleep so I wasn't dead at the point I woke up. No sooner had she finished her sentence I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep.