Site- [REDACTED]

Chapter 10: The Real Beginning

I opened my eyes to two people standing over me, wearing white coats. I was in a sort of hospital setting, but I lightly lifted my head and saw I was in an ambulance.

"What happened...?" I managed to mumble.

"You passed out after escaping," the paramedic to my right said, patting my head.

"You'll be fine. In fact, you will probably be in even better condition after all this. You must've run a ton getting out," the paramedic on my left said. I was able to gather some recollection of what had happened. What a crazy day.

After a few minutes, I felt much better. "Hey, I think I feel better. Thanks for helping me..."

"Of course," the right paramedic said.

"That's my job!" the left paramedic joked.

"Hey, they are having a meeting outside with all the survivors in a few minutes, wanna head over there?" the right paramedic asked.

"Oh, sure. Where is it?" I asked, sitting up.

"It's over by the helipad." She pointed to a stage area and multiple chairs. A few people were already over there. "Drink this water first, then you can head on over." She handed me a plastic cup full of water, which I drank slowly. The glass of water made me feel fully recuperated.

"Thank you again. I'll be on my way." I got out of the bed, and hopped down from the truck onto the gravel. The cool breeze flowed against me. It felt pretty nice. I made my way over to the meeting, as an individual in a suit stepped up to the stage, followed by multiple guards with guns.

"Hello, personnel. I am the head of Public Relations. I am here to apologize, on behalf of the Foundation, for what has happened to you here. This was a truly unfortunate event. After this such event, you have two options. If you are a recent hire, which means within two years of work, you are able to apply for a memory wipe and return to your normal life. If you choose this option, a package will appear at your families' doorstep two days after you are bussed back. We will explain to them that you were working with a secret government agency, but that you have chosen a more normal life. You won't remember anything that happened here. Or, you can choose to stay with us. If you choose that, we will discuss this with you later. Please make your choices after this."

Everybody started looking at each other, trying to see what they were going to do, and then I saw Amanda, Kye, and Amara, so I ran over to them.

"Hi, guys!" I said happily, sitting in an empty seat by them.

"Oh, hi John!" Kye waved at me and smiled. I was about to start talking with them, but then the Public Relations officer spoke up.

"We are now listing personnel that are accounted for, "Luna Duran, Mathew Vang..." They began listing off people I didn't know about, but I listened up once they started listing people I knew, "Kye, Rod, Amanda, Amara, Alex, Kara, Jaques, Maya, and Jordie. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

They didn't call Alphonse or Michelle... are they alright? Oh gosh... I should just go up and ask. "Hey, I need to go ask something, I'll be back guys."

"Alright, have fun," Amanda responded, and they all started talking amongst themselves. I walked up to the stage, and one of the guards greeted me and asked my name.

"Oh, I'm John. I just have a question for them."

"Alright. You can go," he responded, motioning me towards the stage.

"Hi, sir. I have a question regarding the recovery sheet. Is Alphonse or Michelle on there?" I asked, silently praying.

"Let me check... Aha! Alphonse was on the sheet. Sorry about that. Seems like they made it to a breach shelter and were later evacuated by MTF units. Michelle actually came to HQ before the disaster because she was having a meeting with the 05."

"Alleluia! Thank you, sir!"

"Of course. Make your way to the stand over there and make your choice, please. Thanks!"

"Yes, yes. Thank you!" I said happily, glad to see they're alive.

I walked up to the stand, and greeted the person running it.

"Evening."

"Hi, sir! Can I have your name?"

"Oh, yes. It's John." I waited for his response.

'John!' I heard somebody scream in the distance. Suddenly I was on the floor and somebody was on top of me.

"John! You're alright!" I noticed it was Michelle, and hugged her back.

"Hi! Ugh, I thought you were dead!" Michelle screamed in delight, hugging me back.

"John, we need to get this over with." The person running the stand insisted.

"Ohhh, yes. Get to it!" Michelle helped me back up, and I resumed.

"So, John, will you be staying with us?" I looked over to Michelle who was just smiling happily. I remembered Alphonse, and Amanda, and all my other good friends.

"I think I will. Thank you."

"Oh my gosh YAYYYY! Welcome to the Foundation! This time I hope we won't have a site-wide breach, yeah?" Michelle said, laughing. We walked over to my group of friends, and I told them that I was staying.

"Yeahhh!"

"Can't wait to see you at the new Foundation!"

"I heard they'll have even better food! Is that possible?!"

"John, I looked at the science lab, it is AMAZING!"

After we all talked about what had happened, we were bussed to the new facility. It was, in my opinion, much fancier than the old one. The new science lab was, indeed, AMAZING. I was given a promotion to a level 3 card, which gave me the same access as Michelle and Alphonse, so I could do even more with them! It was quite enjoyable.

My phone began to ring. It was Michelle, so I picked up. "Hey, come meet me in the Break Room. It's important..." Oh gosh, this can't be good. I picked up my clipboard and sprinted over. I saw her standing in the middle of the hallway, so I met her there.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Just, come look." She led me to the breakroom and then...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everybody screamed at me. I really couldn't say anything, it was so exciting!

"Oh my gosh, guys! Thank you so much!" Amanda, Jordie, Jaques, Alphonse, Alex, everybody was there! "I'm so glad you remembered!"

"Of course! We wouldn't forget," Alphonse said happily, handing me a slice of cake with a candle.

"Okay, guys. 3-2-1," Jordie counted down, and then they all started singing Happy Birthday to me. I swayed along with the beat, and then blew out my candle, which didn't go out, so I tried again. And again. And again.

"This is a trick candle, isn't it." I said, facepalming myself.

"Yep! And I got it ALL on camera!" Amanda laughed, presenting the video to everybody.

"Ohh, you better delete that!" I said in a joking manner, but I truly enjoyed it.

"Okay, present time!"

"Oh, oh! Open mine first!" Alphonse said, handing me a rather thick present.

"Ohhh, what is it?" I asked, tearing apart the SCP-999 wrapping paper. "A record player, how fun!"

"Hey, don't forget the other item, too!" Alphonse said excitedly, gesturing towards another wrapped item inside.

"Ohhh, exciting!"

It was a disc for Phantom of the Opera.