The Hand of Okra [An SCP Fanfiction]

1. Infiltration

~•ACT ONE•~
—

Click, click, click.

The woman hurried down the hall, her lab coat flowing behind her. She held a stack of filing folders tight against her chest. She ducked and swerved past several people in the hall, but they didn't pay it any mind. Most of them knew the reason for her sense of urgency.

Her name was Huan Jingyi, and she had been newly reassigned to work with SCP-049. She was naturally nervous, and the overbearing nature of 049's project head didn't help with this.

Dr. Sage Ember, who had been leading research on the SCP for at least a year now, gave Jingyi a very important first task: conduct an interview with the creature. They would review the footage at a later date and provide critique of her work. This would continue for her and several other researchers for an indefinite amount of time.

Jingyi reached her office and slid the keycard past the monitor. She slipped into the room and, as soon as the door closed, leaned her back against it. There were forty-five minutes until she had to retrieve SCP-049, so she could relax for now.

She tried to keep her breathing steady for a moment. Ultimately, she found the task useless and threw the filing folders to the ground with an agitated yell.

"Dammit! My first task of this project and you're putting me alone in a room with that thing?! What the hell! You should be doing this, Ember, you!"

She began pacing across the room.

"Not only that, but it's a cross-test? Two! Two SCPs in the same room! Hah! Hahahaha! You're crazy! There's no way!"

Reaching the opposite side of the room, Jingyi pivoted on her heel and turned around.

"Look! I know that the previous project head fucking sucked, and you want everyone on the team to be trustworthy. But damn! My nerves are through the roof, man! I can't do this! I can't, I can't, I can't!!"

Now in front of the door again, she let out a heavy sigh. Her head slouched to look at the ground with closed eyes. She stood back up and tried to correct her posture when something caught her eye.

In the corner of the room, a man was pressed against the wall.

With a surprised shriek from her, the man lunged forward. He grabbed her by the coat, spinning her back to face him.

"Let go, let go! Fire, fir-mph!"

He held a rag to her mouth. It smelled like grass. She tried not to breathe, but the struggle forced her to. Dizziness.

"Calm down, lady. I'm not trying to hurt you," the man lowered her to the ground. "Just here to take some weight off your shoulders."

Following several minutes of wrestling, she stopped moving. He stepped away from the now unconscious Jingyi, leaving the rag on her mouth. Sitting on his knees, he patted her on the shoulder.

"Next time, try not looking so much like me, heh. Now let's see..."

He repositioned to sit at her side and began unbuttoning her lab coat. Lifting her body, he slipped it off of her arms and tossed it to the side. He followed the same procedure while removing the rest of her clothing, silently apologizing along the way.

He stood and removed his own clothing, proceeding to drape it over Jingyi's body. In turn, he dressed in her clothing, going so far as to stuff the bra with materials he brought and tucking. He went to her desk and rummaged through the drawers until coming upon a makeup kit, which contained a handheld mirror.

He set the mirror up on the table and attempted to straighten the clothes through the tiny lens. He turned and crouched to study the makeup that she was wearing. As he applied some of the product from her makeup bag, the door behind him slid open. He whipped his head around to reveal two MTFs in the doorway. But his expression changed from fear to reassurance as they entered the room.

"Eric, Diana. You two scared the shit out of me, a warning would be nice!"

Diana moved Jingyi's scattered files with her foot. "I was too preoccupied with the whole police suit thing to worry about that," she turned towards Eric. "Which, thanks again, man."

"Don't mention it." Eric scanned the room. "Jeez, it is a mess in here, Hasan."

"Hey, watch where you're looking," Hasan scolded with a smile on his face. He turned to the mirror and continued making up his face. "Ever heard of decency?"

"It would be easier if you properly covered the woman up," Diana joked, elbowing Eric in the arm. They quietly laughed about the subject before collecting the papers and files from the ground.

Hasan spun to face the two, trying his best to balance in Jingyi's heels. He struck various poses and strutted around the room, receiving advice and mocking words from his counterparts. He returned to the mirror on the desk to readjust his mannerisms and clean up his makeup.

"Are you sure we have to be so intricate with this?" Diana questioned. "We won't even be out there for that long."

Eric turned to her. "The security here is no joke, you can't be too careful."

"Eh," Hasan shrugged, making sure the snake tattoo on his arm was covered. "That may be true for you, but from my experience it isn't that bad. Could be different now, though, so I guess we can be careful."

He glided over to the door while pulling an ID card from his pocket. As he took the filing folders from Eric and Diana, he looked between them with a grin.

"Ready?"

They nodded, allowing him to face the door once again. He made a wiping motion across his face, putting on a far more anxious expression. Hasan held the folders tight to his padded chest. He cleared his throat and vocalized with a few high tones and phrases. The ID wiped across a sensor by the door and the three stepped into the hall.